The Falls at Tivoli, Italy

The present drawing is a large scale collaboration between Turner and Girtin, executed while the young artists were working in the home of Dr Monro, working from the drawings of his patient John Robert Cozens (1752–1797) (for an explanation of their working together see lot 223). Traditionally the more colourful and highly finished of these Monro School landscapes have been attributed solely to Turner, not least because any underlying pencil drawing is often effaced. It has not been possible to trace the precise source for this work, but it is likely to have been made from sketches and tracings that Cozens made during or after his stay in Italy from November 1776 through to March 1779. Seven large sketches by Cozens of some of the most popular sites in Tivoli are contained in an album in the Sir John Soane’s Museum, London, including view of the building known as the Villa of Maecenas, Tivoli: the drawing of the Valley of the Anio with the 'Villa of Maecenas' is of a similar size and typical of the drawings copied by Girtin.

Comparable to the present drawing in scale and palette is The falls of the Anio at Tivoli near Rome c. 1794, (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) as in the present work, the spray from the nearby falls of water is executed by scratching out the surface of the paper and clearly based on Turner's observation of waterfalls elsewhere. This watercolour, also traditionally given to Turner alone, has also been suggested to be a collaboration between both young artists.

The present watercolour was in the collection of William Leech, the uncle of the writer and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943), the family had made their money as cotton mill owners. Leech and his wife lived in Kensington Gardens, London, where they kept a fine collection of pictures. The 1887 sale at Christie’s, for example, contained over twenty watercolours by Turner and many other leading artists of the day.