Joseph Mallord William Turner

The location of this sketch of Herculaneum can be identified from the Latin inscription, which as Cecilia Powell first noted, came from the theatre, one of the only places during the early nineteenth century where anything of note could be seen.1 Turner has transcribed the text from a pedestal on right-hand side of proscenium (stage): ‘M. NONIO. M.F. BALBO | PR.PRO.COS | HERCVLANENSES’,2 which once supported a statue robed in a toga, representing the son of M. Nonius Balbus, a senator and important patron in Herculaneum.3 For a full description of the theatre and Turner’s sketches see folio 86 (D15896; Turner Bequest CLXXXV 84).

In the bottom right-hand corner of the sheet, another person has provided an English explanation of the inscription. The unknown author appears to be the same hand as that on a sketch of Virgil’s Tomb at Posillipo, see folio 70 (D15865; Turner Bequest CLXXXV 68).4 Another comment relating to the theatre can be seen on folio 86 (D15896; Turner Bequest CLXXXV 84).