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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > Second Italian Tour 1828-9 > Viterbo and Ronciglione Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Ronciglione, from the East 1828

Image 1 of 2
Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Ronciglione, from the East’ 1828
Folio 12 Recto:
Ronciglione, from the East 1828
D21787
Turner Bequest CCXXXVI 12
Pencil on white wove paper, 171 x 125 mm
Inscribed in blue ink by John Ruskin ‘12’ top left, ascending vertically, and ‘173’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCXXXVI 12’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
As identified by the Turner scholars Cecilia Powell and Roland Courtot, these cursory studies depict Ronciglione in the Viterbo province.1 They were executed with the sketchbook turned in different positions. At the top of the page, with the sketchbook oriented vertically, is a view of the domed Cathedral of Santi Pietro e Caterina. Beneath, following the sketchbook’s foliation, are buildings extending across the slopes. Turner’s low vantage point is from a ravine to the east of the town, a natural feature of the volcanic topography.
This is one of almost a dozen works in the present sketchbook depicting Ronciglione; see under folio 8 recto (D21779) for an extended commentary and a list of relevant works.

Hannah Kaspar
December 2024

1
Powell 1984, p.436; Roland Courtot, ‘12. Vers Rome: “Carnet de Viterbe et Ronciglione” (TB CCXXXVI)’, Carnets de voyage de Turner, accessed 15 July 2024, https://carnetswt.hypotheses.org/2312.

How to cite

Hannah Kaspar, ‘Ronciglione, from the East 1828’, catalogue entry, December 2024, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, February 2025, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/ronciglione-from-the-east-r1210556, accessed 18 April 2025.