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 > Vatican Fragments Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of Sculptural Fragment from the Vatican Museums 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of Sculptural Fragment from the Vatican Museums’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 16 Verso:
Study of Sculptural Fragment from the Vatican Museums 1819
D15134
Turner Bequest CLXXX 15 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 161 x 101 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘891’ above sketch top centre
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
During his 1819 stay in Rome, one of Turner’s most extensive sketching campaigns was the large number of pencil studies made from the sculpture collections of the Vatican Museums (for a general discussion, see the introduction to the sketchbook). This page contains a sketch of an unidentified sculptural fragment which appears to incorporate two lion heads. Turner’s annotation ‘891’ presumably relates to an exhibit number displayed on the work. However, is does not appear to correspond to any known lists published within contemporary guide books or catalogues of the Vatican collections.

Nicola Moorby
November 2009

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Study of Sculptural Fragment from the Vatican Museums 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2009, 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-study-of-sculptural-fragment-from-the-vatican-museums-r1139546, accessed 19 April 2024.