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 > Gandolfo to Naples Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner View of the Via Appia between Tor Tre Ponti and Terracina 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘View of the Via Appia between Tor Tre Ponti and Terracina’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 15 Verso:
View of the Via Appia between Tor Tre Ponti and Terracina 1819
D15584
Turner Bequest CLXXXIV 15 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 122 x 197 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?62]’ and ‘W’ within sketch, bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subject of this sketch is the straight section of the Via Appia known as ‘La Fettuccia’ (‘The Ribbon’), which runs through the Pontine marshes for thirty miles to Terracina and formed part of Turner’s journey south between Rome and Naples. The road was described by a contemporary author as being lined on either side with poplar and elm trees, see folio15 (D15583). In the distance can be seen the line of the Monti Lipini (also known as the Volscian Mountains). The sculptural feature in the bottom right-hand corner may represent an ancient milestone or other Roman fragment.

Nicola Moorby
April 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘View of the Via Appia between Tor Tre Ponti and Terracina 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 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-the-via-appia-between-tor-tre-ponti-and-terracina-r1138046, accessed 25 April 2024.