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

This panoramic sketch encompasses the view looking west across the Roman Forum from a high vantage point which Thomas Ashby identified as the summit of the Church of Santi Cosama e Damiano.1 The visible landmarks include (from left to right): the ruins on the Palatine; the Church of Santa Maria Liberatrice which was demolished at the beginning of the twentieth century; the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux; the Church of San Lorenzo in Miranda incorporating the classical portico of the Temple of Antoninus e Faustina; the Temple of Saturn and the adjacent Temple of Vespasian; and on the far right-hand side, the Capitoline Hill with the Campidoglio. In the background is the high ridge of the Janiculum Hill and Turner has annotated the line of the horizon with the position of the Villa Lante. The composition continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 73 (D16288; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 72) and on folio 74 (D16290; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 73). Further sketches completing the circle of vision from this viewpoint can be found on folios 70 verso–71 verso (D16283–D16285; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 69a–70a). For a general discussion for the vogue for urban panoramic views see folio 75 verso (D16293; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 74a).