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

As identified by Cecilia Powell, these views of Nepi feature two of the town’s foremost architectural landmarks: the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the aqueduct.1 Both studies are inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, and offer a more distant version of the view on the recto (D21791). Turner’s vantage point is looking west from the walls on Nepi’s northern perimeter. The cathedral spire, no longer extant, is swiftly outlined to the left of the upper view.2 The large building in the top-left corner is possibly the Church of San Bernardo to the east of the town, the subject of 15 recto (D21793) overleaf. The vista continues to the right with the aqueduct spanning the ravine, which is rapidly outlined with its double tier of arches.3 The distant summit on the horizon, to the right, is Monte Venere on the banks of Lake Vico.

This is one of twenty-one works depicting Nepi in the present sketchbook; for further commentary on Turner’s second visit to the town in 1828, together with a list of relevant works, see under folio 12 verso (D21788).