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 > Small Roman Colour Studies Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Santa Costanza and the Basilica Constantiniana, Rome 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Santa Costanza and the Basilica Constantiniana, Rome’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 62 Verso:
Santa Costanza and the Basilica Constantiniana, Rome 1819
D16432
Turner Bequest CXC 25 a
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 130 x 255 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘Road’ bottom left of sketch
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The subject of this sketch is the Church of Santa Costanza, also known as the Mausoleum of Constantina, which stands near the Via Nomentana, north-east of the historic centre of Rome. Turner’s view looks north-east towards the circular drum and cupola of the church, which is dedicated to Constantina, daughter of the Emperor Constantine. On the left are the ruined remains of the elliptical walls of an early basilica built by Constantine, and in the background is the Church of Sant’Agnese fuori le mura which replaced it. Further studies of this complex of buildings can be found on folios 35 and 61 verso (D16454 and D16430; Turner Bequest CXC 40 and 24a), whilst a view of the interior of Santa Costanza appears on folio 62 (D16431; Turner Bequest CXC 25). Like many drawings within this sketchbook, the composition has been executed over a washed grey background.

Nicola Moorby
June 2009

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Santa Costanza and the Basilica Constantiniana, Rome 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, June 2009, 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-santa-costanza-and-the-basilica-constantiniana-rome-r1132577, accessed 25 December 2024.