Joseph Mallord William Turner, Thomas Girtin

Tivoli: The Temple of the Sibyl

c.1795–7

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In Tate Britain

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Artists
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Thomas Girtin 1775–1802
Part of
Collaborations with Thomas Girtin for Dr Monro, and Other Copies
Medium
Watercolour on paper
Dimensions
Support: 230 × 296 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D36535
Turner Bequest CCCLXXV 14

Display caption

When Turner (together with Thomas Girtin) made this watercolour at the London home of Dr Thomas Monro in the 1790s, he had yet to visit Italy. Instead, it was based upon a first-hand study by another artist in Monro’s collection. The temple of the Sibyl at Tivoli was among the most celebrated motifs for British artists in Italy, and had been painted notably by Richard Wilson, whose work Turner deeply admired, and also copied. Turner visited Tivoli in the autumn of 1819 during his first Italian sojourn, when he made numerous sketches of the Temple and the surrounding countryside.

Gallery label, April 2007

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