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

Turner made a series of drawings from the high vantage point of Monte Testaccio, an artificial hill in southern Rome constructed from a Roman pottery dump, see folios 6 verso–8 verso (D16495–D16499). This sketch records the view looking north-west. Identifiable landmarks include, from left to right: the Janiculum Hill with the distant dome of St Peter’s beyond; the Church of San Pietro in Montorio; Monte Mario in the far distance; the Castel Sant’Angelo; and the two domes of the Santa Maria dei Miracoli and Santa Maria in Montesanto in the Piazza del Popolo. In the left-hand foreground is a surviving section of the Aurelian walls which during the early nineteenth century still ran from the Porta San Paolo to the River Tiber. A small part of the drawing spills over onto the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 9 (D16500). A similar view from the opposite bank of the river can be found in the St Peter’s sketchbook (Tate D16252; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 53a).