Joseph Mallord William Turner Amalfi from the West 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 55 Recto:
Amalfi from the West 1819
D15839
Turner Bequest CLXXXV 55
Turner Bequest CLXXXV 55
Pencil on white wove paper, 113 x 189 mm
Inscribed by ?John Ruskin in blue ink ‘278’ top left, inverted and ‘55’ bottom left, inverted
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXV 55’ top left, inverted
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXV 55’ top left, inverted
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.548, as ‘Amalfi’.
1984
Cecilia Powell, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’, unpublished Ph.D thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London 1984, pp.189 note 87, 491 note 32.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, pp.79 note 25, 83 note 67.
1993
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya i el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, exhibition catalogue, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona 1993, p.299 under no.49.
1994
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, exhibition catalogue, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi 1994, p.162 under no.49.
Turner explored the Amalfi coast from Salerno by boat, before arriving at Amalfi itself. This sketch shows that he disembarked at the picturesque town for at least a short time and walked to viewpoints only accessible on foot. The prospect is taken from the seafront to the west (present-day Lungomare dei Cavalieri), and looks east across the bay and harbour of Amalfi towards the Saracen watch-tower on the spur of land to the right. Visible on the slopes on the far left-hand side is the twelfth-century Capuchin convent (present-day Grand Hotel Convento di Amalfi), see folio 34 verso and 45 verso (D15802 and D15820), whilst in the top left-hand corner is the Torre di Pogerola. Related studies can be seen on folios 54 verso (D15838), whilst for further views of Amalfi see folio 54 (D15837).
Nicola Moorby
October 2010
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘Amalfi from the West 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, October 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www