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

At Terni, Turner made a short detour from his route in order to visit the nearby Falls of Terni, or Cascata delle Marmore, an impressive waterfall created by the descent of the River Velino into the valley below. For a full discussion see folio 55 verso (D14760). There were several locations from which to view the cascading water, including the Belvedere Inferiore near the bottom, and the Belvedere Superiore, a point almost level with the brink of the cascading waters. This sketch, which continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 48 verso (D14747), appears to have been drawn from a position on the hill immediately above the top of the falls, higher than the Belvedere Superiore, looking down.

Turner has also used the remaining space on this page for two landscape sketches drawn at a later date with the sketchbook held vertically like a notebook. The subject of these views is the Church of the Santuario della Madonna del Ponte at Narni, with the sole surviving arch of the Roman Bridge of Augustus, see folio 61 verso (D14772). A related sketch from Turner’s return journey can be found in the Rome to Florence sketchbook (Tate D16529; Turner Bequest CXCI 24).