Joseph Mallord William Turner In the Hills above the Cascata delle Marmore; and Two Views of the Santuario della Madonna del Ponte at Narni 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 49 Recto:
In the Hills above the Cascata delle Marmore; and Two Views of the Santuario della Madonna del Ponte at Narni 1819
D14748
Turner Bequest CLXXVII 49
Turner Bequest CLXXVII 49
Pencil on white wove paper, 186 x 110 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Narni’ bottom left of sketch at top and ‘[?Cemetry di Narni]’ underneath second sketch from top
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘49’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXVII 49’, ascending right-hand edge
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Narni’ bottom left of sketch at top and ‘[?Cemetry di Narni]’ underneath second sketch from top
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘49’ top right, ascending right-hand edge
Stamped in black ‘CLXXVII 49’, ascending right-hand edge
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.522, as ‘Cascade of Terni; also two sketches at Narni, one of “Cemetary” ’.
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Powell, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’, unpublished Ph.D thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London 1984, pp. 101, 469 note 143.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, p.34.
2008
James Hamilton, Nicola Moorby, Christopher Baker and others, Turner e l’Italia, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara 2008, pp.44, 90 note 29.
2009
James Hamilton, Nicola Moorby, Christopher Baker and others, Turner & Italy, exhibition catalogue, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2009, pp.42, 150–1 note 29.
At Terni, Turner made a short detour from his route in order to visit the nearby Falls of Terni, or Cascata delle Marmore, an impressive waterfall created by the descent of the River Velino into the valley below. For a full discussion see folio 55 verso (D14760). There were several locations from which to view the cascading water, including the Belvedere Inferiore near the bottom, and the Belvedere Superiore, a point almost level with the brink of the cascading waters. This sketch, which continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 48 verso (D14747), appears to have been drawn from a position on the hill immediately above the top of the falls, higher than the Belvedere Superiore, looking down.
Turner has also used the remaining space on this page for two landscape sketches drawn at a later date with the sketchbook held vertically like a notebook. The subject of these views is the Church of the Santuario della Madonna del Ponte at Narni, with the sole surviving arch of the Roman Bridge of Augustus, see folio 61 verso (D14772). A related sketch from Turner’s return journey can be found in the Rome to Florence sketchbook (Tate D16529; Turner Bequest CXCI 24).
Nicola Moorby
November 2008
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘In the Hills above the Cascata delle Marmore; and Two Views of the Santuario della Madonna del Ponte at Narni 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www