J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

This sketch depicts a distant view of Tivoli from the slopes of Colle Ripoli to the south of the town. Turner’s vista looks north across Tivoli towards the distant mountains rising beyond. Recognisable landmarks in the middle distance include, from right to left: Tivoli’s fifteenth-century castle, the Rocca Pia; the campaniles of the Cathedral (Duomo) San Lorenzo and the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, near the Villa d’Este; the tower crowning the end of the ruined Santuario di Ercole Vincitore (formerly known as the Villa of Maecenas); and, on the far right-hand side, the so-called Tempio della Tosse (Temple of the Cough) on the Strada degli Orti, leading west from the town towards the Villa Adriana. The drawing spills over onto the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 71 (D15104; Turner Bequest CLXXIX 92a). Related views can be seen on folios 71 verso, 72 verso–73 (D15103, D15061–D15062; Turner Bequest CLXXIX 92, 71a–72).