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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Tivoli to Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner View of Tivoli, with the So-Called Temple of Vesta, from Monte Catillo 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of Tivoli, with the So-Called Temple of Vesta, from Monte Catillo’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 80 Recto:
View of Tivoli, with the So-Called Temple of Vesta, from Monte Catillo 1819
D15077
Turner Bequest CLXXIX 79
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 186 mm
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘79’ top right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXIX 79’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This rough outline sketch depicts a view of Tivoli from the slopes of Monte Catillo, on the opposite side of the steep, wooded gorge, known as the Valle d’Inferno (Valley of Hell). Visible on the far right-hand side is the so-called Temple of Vesta, a circular ruin dating from the first century BC which stands on the edge of the north-eastern edge of the town. On the left-hand side of the composition is a natural cavern in the rock caused by the passage of water, on top of which has been built a church with a Baroque façade. A more detailed sketch of a similar view can be seen in the Naples: Rome C. Studies sketchbook (Tate D16118; Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 30).

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of Tivoli, with the So-Called Temple of Vesta, from Monte Catillo 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-view-of-tivoli-with-the-so-called-temple-of-vesta-from-monte-r1137712, accessed 20 April 2024.