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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Monro School c.1794-8 > Collaborations with Thomas Girtin for Dr ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin View over a Promontory near Naples c.1797

Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin, ‘View over a Promontory near Naples’ c.1797
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Thomas Girtin 1775–1802
View over a Promontory near Naples c.1797
D36538
Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 17
Pencil and grey and blue wash on white wove paper, 303 x 486 mm
Stamped in black ‘CCCLXXV – 17’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Provenance:
Probably commissioned by Dr Thomas Monro
Monro’s posthumous sale, Christie’s, London, 26–28 June and 1–2 July 1833 (day and lot number not known)
Bought by or on behalf of Turner
The pencil work is by Girtin. This was copied from a sketch or watercolour perhaps by John Robert Cozens (1752–1797). The identification of the subject in the inscription on the verso, though probably contemporary, seems to be erroneous, since Capua is an inland town. The view appears to be of the coast south of Naples coast, perhaps near Pozzuoli, with the islands of Ischia and Anacapri in the distance.
Verso:
Inscribed, possibly by Thomas Girtin, in pencil ‘at Capua’ and in a later hand ‘No 24’; stamped in brown ink with Turner Bequest monogram. The same type of inscription occurs on the verso of Tate D36558 (Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 37).

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘View over a Promontory near Naples c.1797 by Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-thomas-girtin-view-over-a-promontory-near-naples-r1141269, accessed 24 April 2024.