Joseph Mallord William Turner Twelve Copies of Engravings after John 'Warwick' Smith from 'Select Views in Italy' c.1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 19 Recto:
Twelve Copies of Engravings after John ‘Warwick’ Smith from ‘Select Views in Italy’ circa 1819
D13966
Turner Bequest CLXXII 19
Turner Bequest CLXXII 19
Pen and black ink on white wove paper, 155 x 99 mm
Inscribed by the artist in black ink with titles and details of views (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘19’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXII 19’ bottom right
Inscribed by the artist in black ink with titles and details of views (see main catalogue entry)
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘19’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXII 19’ bottom right
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.501, as ‘Twelve similar pen and ink sketches: – (1) Il Ponte St. Angelo at Rome, (2) Inside view of the Coliseum, (3) General view of the Coliseum, (4) Campo Vaccino, (5) Arch of Septimus Severus, (6) Temple of Bacchus, (7) Ponte Lucano, (8) Villa Adriana, (9) Villa of Mecenas, (10) Sybil’s Temple, (11) The great Cascade at Tivoli, (12) Convent of St. Cosimato’.
1974
Gerald Wilkinson, The Sketches of Turner, R.A. 1802–20: Genius of the Romantic, London 1974, reproduced p.179.
1975
Gerald Wilkinson, Turner’s Colour Sketches 1820–34, London 1975, p.18.
1977
M. Yamazaki and S. Kijima, Turner, The Book of Great Masters, Japan 1977, p.137, reproduced.
1982
Cecilia Powell, ‘Topography, Imagination and Travel: Turner’s Relationship with James Hakewill’, Art History, vol.5, no.4, December 1982, p.419.
1982
Andrew Wilton, Turner Abroad: France; Italy; Germany; Switzerland, London 1982, p.16.
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Powell, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’, unpublished Ph.D thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London 1984, p.41 note 65.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, p.14, reproduced fig.10, bottom.
1991
Horst Koch, William Turner, Kirchdorf/Inn 1988, trans. Stephen Gorman, London 1991, p.101.
1993
Robert Upstone, Sketchbooks of the Romantics, reprint ed., London 1993, p.110, reproduced.
1997
James Hamilton, Turner: A Life, London 1997, p.196 note 4.
2004
Olivier Meslay, Turner: L’Incendie de la peinture, Découvertes Gallimard Arts, Paris 2004.
2005
Olivier Meslay, J.M.W. Turner: The Man Who Set Painting on Fire, trans. Ruth Sharman, London 2005, p.75, reproduced.
This page is one of a series containing small pen-and-ink sketches of topographical Italian views. As Finberg first identified, these are copies of the engraved plates in John Smith, William Byrne and John Emes’s, Select Views in Italy, published in two volumes between 1792–9. The images derive from the following compositions (in sequence left to right and top to bottom):
i
The Bridge and Castle of St. Angelo at Rome, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.1 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Castle of St Angelo’ bottom centre.
The Bridge and Castle of St. Angelo at Rome, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.1 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Castle of St Angelo’ bottom centre.
ii
Internal View of the Coliseum, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Landseer and John Roffe.2 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Coliseum’ bottom centre.
Internal View of the Coliseum, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Landseer and John Roffe.2 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Coliseum’ bottom centre.
iii
The Coliseum, &c. from Mount Palatine, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Emes.3 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘from Mt Palinna’ [sic] bottom centre.
The Coliseum, &c. from Mount Palatine, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Emes.3 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘from Mt Palinna’ [sic] bottom centre.
iv
Campo Vaccino, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.4 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Campo Vaccino’ bottom left.
Campo Vaccino, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.4 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Campo Vaccino’ bottom left.
v
Arch of Septimius Severus, &c., drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.5 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Arch of S Severus’ bottom left.
Arch of Septimius Severus, &c., drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne and James Sparrow.5 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Arch of S Severus’ bottom left.
vi
Temple of Bacchus, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.6 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Temple of Bacchus | St Agnes a Bust of Saviour | by M Angelo’ bottom right. This note derives from the accompanying text which describes a ‘truly excellent’ white marble bust of Christ by Michelangelo in the Church of St Agnese, adjacent to the ancient temple of Bacchus, also known as Santa Costanza. For Turner’s sketch of this sculpture see the Small Rome C. Studies sketchbook (Tate D1639; Turner Bequest CXC 5).
Temple of Bacchus, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.6 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Temple of Bacchus | St Agnes a Bust of Saviour | by M Angelo’ bottom right. This note derives from the accompanying text which describes a ‘truly excellent’ white marble bust of Christ by Michelangelo in the Church of St Agnese, adjacent to the ancient temple of Bacchus, also known as Santa Costanza. For Turner’s sketch of this sculpture see the Small Rome C. Studies sketchbook (Tate D1639; Turner Bequest CXC 5).
vii
Ponte Lucano, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Thomas Medland.7 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Tomb of the Plautian family | Ponte Lucano nr Tivoli’ bottom centre. The note derives from the accompanying text which describes the ancient Roman tomb adjacent to the bridge although Turner would also have known this through his reading of Eustace, see folio 11 (D13951).
Ponte Lucano, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Thomas Medland.7 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Tomb of the Plautian family | Ponte Lucano nr Tivoli’ bottom centre. The note derives from the accompanying text which describes the ancient Roman tomb adjacent to the bridge although Turner would also have known this through his reading of Eustace, see folio 11 (D13951).
ix
Villa of Mecenas, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.9 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Mecenas Tivoli’ bottom left.
Villa of Mecenas, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by Benjamin Thomas Pouncy.9 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Mecenas Tivoli’ bottom left.
x
Sybil’s Temple at Tivoli, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Emes.10 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Sybils Temple’ bottom right.
Sybil’s Temple at Tivoli, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by John Emes.10 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Sybils Temple’ bottom right.
xi
The Great Cascade at Tivoli, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.11 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Gt falls of Tivoli’ bottom centre.
The Great Cascade at Tivoli, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by William Byrne.11 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘Gt falls of Tivoli’ bottom centre.
xii
Convent of St.Cosimato, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by W. Watts.12 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘7 miles above T Convent of S Cosimata’ bottom centre. The notes derives from the accompanying text which describes the town of Vicovaro ‘about seven miles above Tivoli’ and the Convent ‘near a mile higher up the river’.
Convent of St.Cosimato, drawn by John ‘Warwick’ Smith and engraved by W. Watts.12 Inscribed by the artist in black ink ‘7 miles above T Convent of S Cosimata’ bottom centre. The notes derives from the accompanying text which describes the town of Vicovaro ‘about seven miles above Tivoli’ and the Convent ‘near a mile higher up the river’.
For a general discussion of Turner’s sketches from Select Views see the introduction to the sketchbook.
Nicola Moorby
July 2008
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘Twelve Copies of Engravings after John ‘Warwick’ Smith from ‘Select Views in Italy’ c.1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www