Joseph Mallord William Turner The So-Called Temple of Vesta, Tivoli 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 46 Verso:
The So-Called Temple of Vesta, Tivoli 1819
D15517
Turner Bequest CLXXXIII 46 a
Turner Bequest CLXXXIII 46 a
Pencil and traces of grey watercolour wash on white wove paper, 253 x 200 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘L CELLIO IF’ top left and ‘CELLIO’ within architrave
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘L CELLIO IF’ top left and ‘CELLIO’ within architrave
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Exhibition history
1974
Turner 1775–1851, Royal Academy, London, November 1974–March 1975 (226, as ‘The Temple of the Sibyl seen from Below’).
2001
William Turner: Licht und Farbe, Museum Folkwang, Essen, September 2001–January 2002, Kunsthaus Zürich, February–May 2002 (91, reproduced in colour).
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.541, as ‘Do. [Temple of the Sibyl]. Pencil on white’.
1974
Martin Butlin, Andrew Wilton and John Gage, Turner 1775–1851, exhibition catalogue, Royal Academy, London 1974, no.226, pp.88, 91, as ‘The Temple of the Sibyl seen from Below’.
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Powell, ‘Turner on Classic Ground: His Visits to Central and Southern Italy and Related Paintings and Drawings’, unpublished Ph.D thesis, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London 1984, p.175 note 23.
1987
Cecilia Powell, Turner in the South: Rome, Naples, Florence, New Haven and London 1987, p.78 note 19.
2001
Andrew Wilton, Inge Bodesohn-Vogel and Helena Robinson, William Turner: Licht und Farbe, exhibition catalogue, Museum Folkwang, Essen 2001, no.91, pp.[155], 159, reproduced in colour.
The so-called Temple of Vesta is an ancient circular edifice dating from the first century BC which stands on the brink of the gorge at the northern edge of Tivoli. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries it represented an important site for the study of classical architecture and was one of the most popular motifs for artists visiting Italy. This sketch depicts a view from just beneath the ruin looking north across its façade. Turner has partially indicated the fluted surface of the Corinthian columns, the windows and door of the inner cella and the sculptural frieze adorned with ox-heads and garlands. Further studies of the architectural elements can be seen on folio 45 verso (D15515). Visible in the background is the so-called Temple of the Sibyl, an adjacent rectangular ruin which until the end of the nineteenth century was incorporated within the Church of San Giorgio. Similar sketches can be seen on folios 45–46 (D15514–D15516). For a detailed description of the Temple of Vesta and other related studies see folio 44 verso (D15513).
In the top left-hand corner of the page, Turner has attempted to transcribe the inscription from the architrave. The full text, dedicated to the consul, Lucius Gellius Poplicola, who supervised the building of the temple, should read ‘curant L.GELLIO LF’.1
Nicola Moorby
February 2010
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘The So-Called Temple of Vesta, Tivoli 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www