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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > ?South of France and Italy c.1820-41 > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Mountains and Buildings, ?South of France or Italy c.1830

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Mountains and Buildings, ?South of France or Italy’ c.1830
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Mountains and Buildings, ?South of France or Italy c.1830
D25013
Turner Bequest CCLXI 41
Pencil on blue paper, 194 x 142 mm
Inscribed in pencil by Turner (see main entry)
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘41’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCLXI 41’ top right, ascending vertically
Blind stamped with Turner Bequest monogram bottom centre
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This is one of a large number of sketches on loose sheets of paper depicting hill towns, wooded scenery and rocky coastal terrain, here identified with Turner’s various tours of South of France and Italy. For the grouping and dating of these works, see the section introduction. Turner filled the upper right-hand corner of the page with a transcription of a Latin inscription, presumably taken from an ancient monument. The partially legible transcription appears as follows:
[...]
BASSO
[...]E [...]VIRU[...]
HERVULANE DE TA[...]VS
PRAE[...]TO – [...]VM
M SILAN [...]EX
CARTHAGINA
[...]R . MILLEG[...]CUS
QUINQUENA
Verso:
A note in pencil reading ‘D. 25013’ along the bottom edge and ‘231’ bottom right-hand corner. Vestiges of white paper or card stuck to the edges, presumably from an earlier mount. Strips of fine white paper reinforce the edges.

John Chu
June 2015

How to cite

John Chu, ‘Mountains and Buildings, ?South of France or Italy c.1830 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2015, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, November 2016, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-mountains-and-buildings-south-of-france-or-italy-r1183115, accessed 21 November 2024.