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

As identified by the Turner scholars Cecilia Powell and Roland Courtot, this view of Nepi features two of the town’s foremost architectural landmarks: the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta and the aqueduct.1 Turner’s viewpoint is looking west from the walls along Nepi’s northern perimeter. The distant summit, according to Courtot, is Monte Venere on the banks of Lake Vico. The vista begins to the left with the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta, which formerly had a spire, as shown here by Turner. At the time of his visit, reconstructive works were underway on the cathedral following damage caused by French troops in 1798.2

The vista continues to the right with the aqueduct crossing the ravine. Featuring thirty-six arches and resembling the monuments of Roman antiquity, it was constructed between the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries, latterly under the direction of the architect Filippo Barigioni.3 In the background is the main part of the structure with a double tier of arches, followed by a single row in front. For a simplified version of this view, see folio 16 verso (D21796). For a comparable study from Turner’s first visit to Nepi in 1819, see the Ancona to Rome sketchbook (Tate D14810; Turner Bequest CLXXVII 80a).

This is one of twenty-one works depicting Nepi in the present sketchbook; for further commentary on Turner’s second visit in 1828, together with a list of relevant works, see under folio 12 verso (D21788).