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 > Italian Guide Book Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Twelve Copies of Engravings after John 'Warwick' Smith from 'Select Views in Italy' c.1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Twelve Copies of Engravings after John 'Warwick' Smith from 'Select Views in Italy'’ c.1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 20 Recto:
Twelve Copies of Engravings after John ‘Warwick’ Smith from ‘Select Views in Italy’ circa 1819
D13968
Turner Bequest CLXXII 20
Pen and black ink on white wove paper, 155 x 99 mm
Inscribed by the artist in black ink with titles and details of views (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘20’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXII 20’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page is one of a series containing small pen-and-ink sketches of topographical Italian views. As Finberg first identified, these are copies of the engraved plates in John Smith, William Byrne and John Emes’s, Select Views in Italy, published in two volumes between 1792–9. The images derive from the following compositions (in sequence left to right and top to bottom):
i
Sepulchral Remains, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.1 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Remains in the Campagna’ bottom left.
ii
Frescati, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.2 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Frescati’ bottom centre.
iii
Marino, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.3 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Marino’ bottom right.
iv
Lerici, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.4 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Lerici’ bottom left.
v
Hermitage at Albano, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Landseer and J. Shirt.5 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Hermitage of Albano’ bottom left.
vi
Lake of Albano, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.6 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘ Lake of Albano’ bottom left.
vii
Lake of Nemi, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.7 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Lake Nemi’ bottom centre.
viii
Veletri, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.8 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Veletri’ bottom right.
ix
Terracina, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.9 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Terracina’ bottom left.
x
Castle at Fondi, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.10 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Castle at Fondi’ bottom centre.
xi
Tomb of Cicero, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.11 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Tomb of Cicero | near Gaeta of Munatius | Plancus’ bottom right. The note derives from the accompanying text which states that the so-called Tomb of Cicero is also believed by some to be the tomb of the Roman censor Munatius Plancus.
xii
Ferry over the Garigliano, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.12 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Ferry over the | Garigliano’ bottom right.
For a general discussion of Turner’s sketches from Select Views see the introduction to the sketchbook. Related on-the-spot views of many of the same locations can be found in the Albano, Nemi, Rome sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CLXXXII) and the Gandolfo to Naples sketchbook (Tate; Turner Bequest CLXXXIV).

Nicola Moorby
July 2008

1
John Smith, William Byrne and John Emes, Select Views in Italy with Topographical and Historical Descriptions in English and French, vol.II, London 1796, pl.37.
2
Ibid., pl.38.
3
Ibid., pl.39.
4
Ibid., pl.40.
5
Ibid., pl.41.
6
Ibid., pl.42.
7
Ibid., pl.43.
8
Ibid., pl.44.
9
Ibid., pl.45.
10
Ibid., pl.46.
11
Ibid., pl.47.
12
Ibid., pl.48.

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Twelve Copies of Engravings after John ‘Warwick’ Smith from ‘Select Views in Italy’ c.1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2008, 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-twelve-copies-of-engravings-after-john-warwick-smith-from-r1138789, accessed 26 April 2024.