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

Turner often sought out high vantage points from which to gain a panoramic perspective across cities and landscapes. The highest point in Naples was the hill of Camaldoli to the north-west, from where it was possible to survey the length of the Gulf of Naples and the Tyrrhenian coastline from west to east. This sketch depicts the view looking west towards the distant headland of Gaeta on the right. Just visible along the horizon (and labelled by the artist) are the dark silhouettes of the Pontine Islands, a small archipelago, the largest of which is Ponza. A small part of the composition with a couple of foreground figures spills over onto the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 71 verso (D15868; Turner Bequest CLXXXV 69a). For further views from Camaldoli see folio 73 (D15871; Turner Bequest CLXXXV 71).