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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1819-29 Italy and after > First Italian Tour 1819-20 > Albano, Nemi, Rome Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Details of the Temples of Vespasian and Saturn in the Forum, Rome; and a Sketch of Two Religious Figures 1819

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Details of the Temples of Vespasian and Saturn in the Forum, Rome; and a Sketch of Two Religious Figures’ 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 34 Verso:
Details of the Temples of Vespasian and Saturn in the Forum, Rome; and a Sketch of Two Religious Figures 1819
D15359
Turner Bequest CLXXXII 34 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 189 x 113 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘ESTITVER’ within entablature, top sketch and ‘SENATVS POPVLVS QVE ROMANVS | INCENDIO CONSVMPTVM RESTITVIT’ within sketch, bottom right in portrait format
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This page contains studies related to monuments in the Roman Forum. The top sketch is a carefully detailed study of the uppermost section of the Temple of Vespasian, including the Corinthian capitals of the three remaining columns, and the ornamental reliefs and inscription on the entablature. Beneath this is another sketch of the base of one of the columns. The lower sketch similarly records the details of the adjacent Temple of Saturn including the corner of the cornice with the top of one of the eight remaining Ionic columns, and the Latin inscription on the entablature along the top of the temple. The full text reads ‘Senatus Populus Que Romanus Incendio Consumptum Restitvit’ [Destoyed by fire, Restored by the Senate and the People of Rome]. For a general discussion of the Temples and Turner’s depictions of the Forum see folio 32 (D15355).
In the bottom right-hand corner is a sketch of two men, one of whom is carrying a staff, whilst the other appears to be carrying a cross. Their costume suggests they are religious figures.

Nicola Moorby
May 2008

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘Details of the Temples of Vespasian and Saturn in the Forum, Rome; and a Sketch of Two Religious Figures 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, May 2008, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-details-of-the-temples-of-vespasian-and-saturn-in-the-forum-r1132654, accessed 18 September 2024.