Joseph Mallord William Turner Details and Inscriptions from the Santuario della Santa Casa and the Piazza della Madonna, Loreto 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 13 Verso:
Details and Inscriptions from the Santuario della Santa Casa and the Piazza della Madonna, Loreto 1819
D14678
Turner Bequest CLXXVII 13 a
Turner Bequest CLXXVII 13 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 110 x 186 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘GREGORIO XIII PONT | OPTIMAX, ET PILLIPO Card | VASTAVII | Proctectore AN MD | LXXIII’ top left and ‘Lombardi Beautiful | Doors’ along left-hand edge and ‘Benedictus XIV PM’ bottom left
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘GREGORIO XIII PONT | OPTIMAX, ET PILLIPO Card | VASTAVII | Proctectore AN MD | LXXIII’ top left and ‘Lombardi Beautiful | Doors’ along left-hand edge and ‘Benedictus XIV PM’ bottom left
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.521 as ‘Chiesa della Casa Santa, Loreto’.
1982
Evelyn Joll and Martin Butlin, L’opera completa di Turner 1793–1829, Classici dell’arte, Milan 1982, p.[120] under no.331.
1984
Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984, p.185 under no.331.
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Powell, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’, unpublished Ph.D thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London 1984, pp.98, 408, 467 note 125, reproduced pl.30, as ‘(a) The inscription from the façade of the Santuario della Santa Casa: Gregorio XIII PONT. OPT. MAX. etc.; (b) Lombardi Beautiful doors and sketch of one of the doors of the Santuario; (c) the gateway opposite the Santuario and its inscription to Benedict XIV; (d) the west side of Piazza della Madonna, Loreto’.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, p.[31], reproduced pl.26, as ‘Loreto: Piazza della Madonna’.
The first significant place of interest on the route to Rome from Ancona was Loreto, a famous site of Catholic pilgrimage. Turner made a large number of sketches in and around the city, see folio 10 (D14671). This page contains details and inscriptions from the historical heart of the city, the fifteenth-century basilica of the Santuario della Santa Casa which stands at the east end of a Renaissance square designed by Bramante, the Piazza della Madonna. Like many English tourists, Turner was fascinated by the Santuario and its most celebrated relic, the shrine of the Holy House. According to legend, the house was the home of the Virgin Mary which was transported from Palestine by a host of angels during the thirteenth century.
Cecilia Powell has identified the various sketches on this page as, from left to right:
i
Turner’s copy of the inscription which runs along the middle cornice of the façade of the Santuario della Santa Casa and reads ‘SVB GREGORIO XIII PONT OPT MAX ET PHILIPPO CARD VASTAVILL PROTECTORE AN MD LXXXIII’. Turner’s transcription is close, but not entirely accurate.
Turner’s copy of the inscription which runs along the middle cornice of the façade of the Santuario della Santa Casa and reads ‘SVB GREGORIO XIII PONT OPT MAX ET PHILIPPO CARD VASTAVILL PROTECTORE AN MD LXXXIII’. Turner’s transcription is close, but not entirely accurate.
ii
One of the three sets of bronze doors of the basilica.
One of the three sets of bronze doors of the basilica.
iii
The upper storey above the gateway on the west side of the Piazza della Madonna leading out to the present-day Piazza Giovanne XXIII. Also Turner’s transcription of the dedication to Pope Benedict XIV.
The upper storey above the gateway on the west side of the Piazza della Madonna leading out to the present-day Piazza Giovanne XXIII. Also Turner’s transcription of the dedication to Pope Benedict XIV.
iv
The west side of the Piazza della Madonna which is bordered by the two-storey colonnades of the shorter wing of the Palazzo Apostolico. The upper storey now houses the museum and art gallery of the Santuario della Santa Casa. Turner has drawn the view from the south-west corner of the square looking towards the opposite side.
The west side of the Piazza della Madonna which is bordered by the two-storey colonnades of the shorter wing of the Palazzo Apostolico. The upper storey now houses the museum and art gallery of the Santuario della Santa Casa. Turner has drawn the view from the south-west corner of the square looking towards the opposite side.
The view of the Piazza della Madonna continues on the opposite sheet of the double-page spread, see folio 14 (D14679), with the façade of the Santuario.
Nicola Moorby
November 2008
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘Details and Inscriptions from the Santuario della Santa Casa and the Piazza della Madonna, Loreto 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www