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 > Tivoli Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of a Waterfall, Tivoli 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of a Waterfall, Tivoli’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 24 Verso:
Study of a Waterfall, Tivoli 1819
D15491
Turner Bequest CLXXXIII 24 a
Pencil and traces of grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 253 x 200 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
One of the greatest natural spectacles at Tivoli was the multitude of waterfalls caused by the waters of the River Aniene plunging into the valley to the north of the town. The rough pencil work on this page appears to represent a swiftly drawn study of one of these cascades. Turner has used free looping lines to suggest the streaming weight of water dropping from a great height.

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Study of a Waterfall, Tivoli 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2010, 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-a-waterfall-tivoli-r1137767, accessed 17 May 2024.