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 > Milan to Venice Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The 'Ala' of the Amphitheatre at Verona; Head and Figure Studies; Hills 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The 'Ala' of the Amphitheatre at Verona; Head and Figure Studies; Hills’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 26 Recto:
The ‘Ala’ of the Amphitheatre at Verona; Head and Figure Studies; Hills 1819
D14364
Turner Bequest CLXXV 26
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 185 mm
Partial watermark ‘Al | 18’
Inscribed by John Ruskin in blue ink ‘26’ top right and ‘300’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXV 26’ bottom right
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
In the main drawing, Turner’s viewpoint is a high-level walkway between the arches supporting the upper level of tiered seating and the ‘ala’ or wing of four surviving arches on the outer perimeter of the Roman amphitheatre at Verona, looking west to buildings on the Piazza Brà. For other views of the arena and the city, see under see under folio 25 recto (D14363).
Overlapping with the nearest arch, but made with the page turned vertically, there are rapid studies of male and female heads and figures; for other such studies in this sketchbook, see under folio 18 verso (D14351). At the outer edge is a hilly skyline without identifiable landmarks.

Matthew Imms
March 2017

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The ‘Ala’ of the Amphitheatre at Verona; Head and Figure Studies; Hills 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, March 2017, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, July 2017, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-ala-of-the-amphitheatre-at-verona-head-and-figure-r1186477, accessed 03 February 2025.