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

As identified by Cecilia Powell, this rough sketch depicts the Arch of Augustus in Rimini, a Roman triumphal arch dating back to 27 BC.1 Located to the south of the city, it marks the end of the Via Flaminia connecting Rome to Rimini. Once part of the ancient city walls, it now stands as an isolated archway, as depicted here. With typical economy, Turner has concentrated the architectural detailing on the left half of the structure, leaving the right side comparatively unfinished. Among the features outlined are the Ghibelline or ‘swallowtail’ crenellations added in the tenth century; the engaged Corinthian columns, only one of which is defined; one of the two roundels; and a section of the dentil moulding.

Turner’s vantage point was from outside the ancient city walls, looking north-west towards the centre of Rimini. This study is inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation. For a more detailed study of the Arch of Augustus in Rimini from Turner’s first major tour of Italy in 1819–20, see Matthew Imms’s entry in the present catalogue for the Venice to Ancona sketchbook (Tate D14598; Turner Bequest CLXXVI 56a).

Towards the gutter is a slight topographical outline labelled ‘S^t Marino’; the hilly microstate of San Marino, with its capital of the same name, lies several miles inland from Rimini.