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 Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner View of Tivoli, from Monte Catillo 1819

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of Tivoli, from Monte Catillo’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 82 Recto:
View of Tivoli, from Monte Catillo 1819
D15554
Turner Bequest CLXXXIII 82
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 200 x 253 mm
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in faded red ink ‘82’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge, and by an unknown hand in pencil ‘82’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIII 82’ bottom left, descending left-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The rough nature of this drawing makes the details of the subject difficult to identify. However, it appears to represent a general view of Tivoli from the summit of Monte Catillo to the east. The arch visible in the middle distance is the medieval gate of Porta Cornuta, whilst in the far distance to the west is the flat plain of the Roman Campagna. Similar studies can be found in the Tivoli and Rome sketchbook (Tate D15080; Turner Bequest CLXXIX 80a) and in the Naples: Rome C. Studies sketchbook (Tate D16119; Turner Bequest CLXXXVII 31). Like many drawings within this sketchbook, the composition has been executed over a washed grey background. Turner has created highlights within the work by rubbing or lifting out the wash to reveal the white paper beneath, principally to depict the former course of the River Aniene winding through the town, before plunging as the ‘Grand Cascade’ at a point near the so-called Temple of Vesta on the right. After a devastating flood in 1826 the river was diverted away from the residential district, altering both the topography of the town, and the site of the waterfall.
Verso:
Blank, except for traces of grey watercolour wash

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of Tivoli, 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-from-monte-catillo-r1137830, accessed 27 April 2024.