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

This rough and faint sketch appears to depict 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 include, near the central foreground, Tivoli’s fifteenth-century castle, the Rocca Pia, and in the middle distance to the left, the campanile of the Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, near the Villa d’Este and the tower of the Santuario di Ercole Vincitore (formerly known as the Villa of Maecenas). The domed structure indicated on the far left-hand side may also represent the so-called Tempio della Tosse (Temple of the Cough) on the Strada degli Orti, the road leading west from the town towards the Villa Adriana. Related views can be seen on folios 70 verso, 71 verso, 73 (D15059, D15103, D15062; Turner Bequest CLXXIX 70a, 92, 72).