Joseph Mallord William Turner St Peter's and the Vatican from the Gardens of the Villa Barberini, Rome 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner,
St Peter's and the Vatican from the Gardens of the Villa Barberini, Rome
1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
St Peter’s and the Vatican from the Gardens of the Villa Barberini, Rome 1819
D16347
Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 21
Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 21
Gouache, pencil, grey watercolour wash and watercolour on white wove ‘Valleyfield’ paper, 231 x 370 mm
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIX 21’ bottom right
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIX 21’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1904
National Gallery, London, various dates to at least 1904 (273).
1938
Four Screens, British Museum, London, September 1938 (no catalogue).
1947
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1947 (48, reproduced).
1947
William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern, December 1947–February 1948 (48, reproduced).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Exposition de peintures organisée par la Tate Gallery pour le British Council, Musée de l’Orangerie, Paris, circa March 1948 (48, reproduced).
1948
Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège, March–April 1948 (48, reproduced).
1950
Aquarelle aus dem Turner-Nachlass im Britischen Museum veranstaltet vom British Council, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, September/October 1950–March 1951, September 1951–April 1952 (7).
1961
J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, September–October 1961, National Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, October–November 1961 (9, reproduced).
1975
Turner in the British Museum: Drawings and Watercolours, British Museum, London, May 1975–February 1976 (64, reproduced in colour, as ‘Rome: St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’).
1978
Turner 1775–1851, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague, December 1978–February 1979 (27, reproduced, as ‘St. Pieter van de Villa Barberini uit gezien’).
1979
Exposicion del Gran pintor ingles, William Turner: Oleos y acuarelas: Collecciones de la Tate Gallery, British Museum y otros museos ingleses, Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City, August–September 1979 (BM 25).
1979
Oleos y acuarelas de Joseph Mallord William Turner, Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela, October[–?November] 1979 (BM 25).
1981
Turner’s First Visit to Italy, 1819: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Loaned by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, April–October 1981 (no catalogue).
1983
Turner and the Human Figure: Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Loaned by the British Museum, Tate Gallery, London, December 1983–July 1984 (no catalogue).
1987
Watercolours from the Turner Bequest, Tate Gallery, London, April–October 1987 (no catalogue).
1990
The Third Decade: Turner Watercolours 1810–1820, Tate Gallery, London, January–April 1990 (43, reproduced).
1993
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya i el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona, September–November 1993, Sala de Exposiciones de la Fundación ”la Caixa”, Madrid, November 1993–January 1994 (32, reproduced in colour).
1994
J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi, September–December 1994 (32, reproduced in colour).
2003
The Impossible View?, The Lowry, Salford, July 2003–January 2004 (32, reproduced in colour).
2007
Hockney on Turner Watercolours, Tate Britain, London, June 2007–February 2008 (no number).
References
1904
E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn (eds.), Library Edition: The Works of John Ruskin: Volume XIII: Turner: The Harbours of England; Catalogues and Notes, London 1904, no.273, pp.378, 622, as ‘Rome: St Peter’s from the South’.
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.562, as ‘St. Peter’s from the south. Water colour. 273, N.G.’.
1920
D[ugald] S[utherland] MacColl, National Gallery, Millbank: Catalogue: Turner Collection, London 1920, p.87.
1931
Turner, Medici Masters in Colour Series, London [1931], p.[4], reproduced in colour pl.16.
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling in het Stedelijk Museum te Amsterdam georganiseerd door de Tate Gallery voor de British Council, exhibition catalogue, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam 1947, no.48, reproduced [p.41].
1947
[Humphrey Brooke], William Turner 1775–1851: Die Ausstellung wurde von der Tate Gallery für den British Council organisiert, exhibition catalogue, Berner Kunstmuseum, Bern 1947, no.48, reproduced [p.45].
1948
[Humphrey Brooke], Turner 1775–1851: Tentoonstelling van schilderijen ingericht door de Tate Gallery voor The British Council in het Ministerie van Openbaar Onderwijs van Belgie, exhibition catalogue, Palais voor Schone Kunst, Brussels and Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Liège (‘Luik’) 1948, no.48, reproduced [p.35].
1961
J. Isaacs, J.W.M. [sic] Turner 1775–1851: Watercolours: On Loan to the National Gallery of Victoria on the Occasion of its Centenary from the Turner Bequest by Courtesy of the Trustees and Director of the British Museum, London, with the Assistance of the British Council, exhibition catalogue, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne 1961, no.9, reproduced [p.11], as ‘Rome, St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
1975
Andrew Wilton, Turner in the British Museum: Drawings and Watercolours, exhibition catalogue, British Museum, London 1975, no.64, reproduced in colour, p.58, as ‘Rome: St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
1977
Nobuyuki Senzoku, Turner, L’Art du Monde 18, Japan [and Paris?] 1977, reproduced p.86 bottom.
1978
John Sillevis, Nini Jonker and Hripsimé Visser, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague 1978, no.27, p.62, reproduced, as ‘St. Pieter van de Villa Barberini uit gezien’.
1979
Andrew Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, Fribourg 1979, reproduced in colour, p.140, pl.151, as ‘Rome: St. Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
1982
Guy Weelan, J.M.W. Turner, trans. I. Mark Paris, New York 1982, reproduced p.74 no.60, as ‘Rome: St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
1982
Andrew Wilton, Turner Abroad: France; Italy; Germany; Switzerland, London 1982, p.42, reproduced in colour, p.[102] pl.34, as ‘Rome: St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
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, pp.111, 472 note 8, reproduced pl.38, as ‘St Peter’s from the grounds of the Villa Barberini’.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, pp.37–8 note 8, 48, reproduced p.[39] pl.36, as ‘St Peter’s from the grounds of the Villa Barberini’.
1990
Diane Perkins, The Third Decade: Turner Watercolours 1810–1820, exhibition catalogue, Tate Gallery, London 1990, no.43, p.41, reproduced as ‘St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
1993
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Impressions de Gran Bretanya i el Continent Europeu / Impresiones de Gran Bretaña y el Continente Europeo, exhibition catalogue, Centre Cultural de la Fundació ”la Caixa”, Barcelona 1993, no.32, pp.118, 293, reproduced in colour, as ‘Roma: Sant Pere des de la Vil La Barberini/Roma: San Pedro desde Villa Barberini’.
1994
Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner 1775–1851: Aquarelles et Dessins du Legs Turner: Collection de la Tate Gallery, Londres / Watercolours and Drawings from the Turner Bequest: Collection from the Tate Gallery, London, exhibition catalogue, Palais des Beaux-Arts de Charleroi 1994, no.32 reproduced in colour, as ‘Rome: Saint-Pierre vue depuis la Villa Barberini/Rome: St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
1997
Inge Herold, Turner on Tour, Munich and New York 1997, p.51, reproduced in colour, p.49, as ‘Rome: St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
2002
Stendhal, Viaggi in Italia illustrati dai Pittori del Romanticismo: Passeggiate Romane, Paris and Florence 2002, reproduced in colour, p.82, as ‘San Pietro da Villa Barberini’.
2003
Emma Anderson, Lindsay Brooks, Jon Rouse and others, The Impossible View?, exhibition catalogue, The Lowry, Salford 2003, no.32 reproduced in colour, p.62.
2007
David Blayney Brown, Turner Watercolours, exhibition catalogue, Tate Britain, London 2007, reproduced in colour, p.60 and detail, p.[57], as ‘St Peter’s from the Villa Barberini’.
Turner’s location for this view of St Peter’s and the Vatican was the Villa Barberini (also known as the Villa Barberini al Gianicolo), a small Baroque casino situated north of the Janiculum Hill, to the immediate south of St Peter’s and the Vatican. Originally owned by Taddeo Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, the building was largely destroyed during the siege of Rome in 1849,1 but its appearance is partially recorded in an eighteenth-century engraving by Giuseppe Vasi (1710–1782).2 Two small pavilions, the Casino della Palma, and the Palazetto Vercelli survived and are today part of a larger complex owned by the Jesuits and the Collegio di Propoganda Fide.
During the nineteenth century, the Villa Barberini was set within terraced gardens which offered spectacular views across the city. This sketch depicts the prospect looking north-west across the colonnades of Piazza San Pietro towards the magnificent façade and dome of St Peter’s. On the right is the southern end of the Vatican and on the far right in the distance is the Monte Mario. The ornamental feature in the foreground is a dolium, a large eathernware jar traditionally used by Romans for storing foodstuffs.3 Turner made a detailed pencil drawing of the same subject from a similar but slightly closer viewpoint (see Tate D16333; Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 7). Several other panoramic studies from the Villa Barberini can also be found within this sketchbook (see D16327, D16329, D16358, D16361, D16374; Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 1, 3, 32, 34, 45a) and there is a single related sketch in the Albano, Nemi, Rome sketchbook (see Tate D15368; Turner Bequest CLXXXII 39).
Like many drawings within the Rome C. Studies sketchbook, the composition has been executed over a washed grey background. Turner started with a basic outline in pencil before extensively developing the scene in watercolour. Unlike the related drawing which accurately reproduces every detail of the architectural topography, the focus of this study is the mellow light of late afternoon. Turner has painted the dome and front of St Peter’s in cool grey tones but the adjacent Apostolic Palace, the colonnades and the buildings in front of the Piazza San Pietro are bathed in a rosy pink from the light of the sun setting on the left. Tonal contrast is provided by the dark silhouttes of the trees and the long shadows cast on the left. Turner has further enlivened the foreground with pale scratched out highlights delineating the decorative layout and features of the Barberini garden. Two figures dressed like clerics appear to survey the panorama spread before them, whilst a note of comic interest is introduced by the boy peering inside the dolium. Andrew Wilton has suggested that this careful ‘repoussoir’ organisation of the foreground seems to imitate Richard Wilson’s Roman views painted for the Earl of Dartmouth during the 1750s.4 These include a series of distant prospects of the city taken from famous vantage points such as Monte Mario or the Janiculum Hill.5
Verso:
Blank; stamped in black ‘CLXXXIX 21’ bottom centre.
Nicola Moorby
July 2009
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘St Peter’s and the Vatican from the Gardens of the Villa Barberini, Rome 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www