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 > Pompeii, Amalfi, &c., Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast; and Sketches of Castellammare di Stabia 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast; and Sketches of Castellammare di Stabia’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 58 Verso:
Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast; and Sketches of Castellammare di Stabia 1819
D15906
Turner Bequest CLXXXV 91
Pencil on white wove paper, 189 x 113 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[S...]’ top centre right and ‘[?Mado angle]’ bottom right of top sketch, and ‘Green B Stocks Red’ bottom left of third sketch from top, and ‘Pompi’ centre right-hand edge of fourth sketch from top
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in red ink ‘91’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXV 91’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains several sketches from different locations in the Gulf of Naples and the Gulf of Salerno. At the top of the sheet is a view from the sea of Vietri sul Mare, west of Salerno, identifiable from the dome and campanile of the cathedral, and the distinctive shaped peak of San Liberatore towering above the town on the right. For further studies see folio 48 verso (D15826). The second scene from the top is currently unidentified.
The page also contains views related to Castellammare di Stabia (formerly known as Castellamare or Castel a Mare). The third sketch from the top depicts the bay of Castellamare and the Lattari Mountains of the Sorrentine peninsula seen from the east. The dark silhouette in the bay is the ruined castle of Rovigliano, which stands on a small island of rocks. The fourth scene from the top meanwhile represents the view looking north from the bridge at Castellammare towards Vesuvius, see also folio 34 (D15801). Turner has used a written note to mark the location of distant Pompeii. Finally, the details at the bottom of the page represent part of a view of the arsenal and dockyard at Castellammare. The composition is continued on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 59 (D15845; Turner Bequest CLXXXV 59).

Nicola Moorby
October 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Vietri sul Mare on the Amalfi Coast; and Sketches of Castellammare di Stabia 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 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-vietri-sul-mare-on-the-amalfi-coast-and-sketches-of-r1138313, accessed 23 April 2024.