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

Inverted relative to sketchbook’s foliation, this study offers an east-facing view of Nepi from the outskirts of the town. As identified by Cecilia Powell, the dominant architectural landmark in the top-right corner is the Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta.1 The spire of the belltower, as shown here by Turner, no longer exists. Reconstructive works were carried out on the cathedral between 1818 and 1840, which the artist may well have witnessed.2 At the centre of the page is the town’s monumental aqueduct, designed in the ancient Roman style and constructed between the sixteenth and early eighteenth centuries.3 To the left of the vista is a single stone pine, a species of tree that often features in Turner’s sketches of Nepi, as noted by the geographer Roland Courtot.4 Visible on the horizon is Monte Soratte, located east of Nepi and north of Rome; see under folio 27 verso (D21815) for further commentary on this mountain range and a list of relevant views in the sketchbook.

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