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

In the upper half of this page, as identified by the Turner scholars Cecilia Powell and Roland Courtot, is a panorama of Montefiascone in the Viterbo province of Lazio.1 Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, it is dominated at the centre by the city’s domed cathedral, known as the Basilica of Santa Margherita. Above it a detail of the dome’s lantern. The vista terminates to the right with the Rocca dei Papi, or ‘Popes’ rock’, a medieval hilltop fortress. The vista extends onto folio 45 verso (D21845) opposite, which traces the slopes descending from the Rocca dei Papi. Turner’s vantage point, as noted by Courtot, is from the northern arrival by the Orvieto road.2

The lower view, as noted by Powell and Courtot, is a study of Montefiascone from the north-east, a view that encompasses Lake Bolsena with its two islands to the right to the right.3 For a comparable view of the Basilica of Santa Margherita, together with a full list of Turner’s views of Montefiascone in the present sketchbook, see under folio 1 recto (D21765).

The study of buildings in the top-right corner has spilled over from the page opposite, which contains a view of the Palazzo Farnese in Caprarola.