Joseph Mallord William Turner

a.
The sketch in the top left-hand corner depicts a famous nude statue of the goddess Aphrodite covering herself with her hands, known as the Capitoline Venus.1 Turner would have seen the work in the Stanza del Gladiatore (now known as the Sala del Galata), but today it can be found in the Gabinetto delle Venere (Cabinet of Venus), formed in 1830–4. His knowledge of this statue perhaps relates to a later oil sketch, Outline of a Venus Pudica 1828 (Tate, N05509).2
b.
The sketch in the top right-hand corner represents a statue of a robed priestess carrying a vessel from the Sala del Galata.3 The drawing is annotated with the number ‘13’. The sculpture can also be seen in a near-contemporaneous drawing by James Hakewill (1778–1843), Rome. Antiques of the Capitol. Stanza del Gladiatore moribondo (British School at Rome Library).4
c.
The sketch on the right-hand side of the second row depicts a circular altar dedicated to Hercules.5 Turner has transcribed part of the Latin inscription from the object as ‘HERCVLI VIC’. The altar acts as the base from the sculpture of the Capitoline Antinous, see folio 58 (D15216; Turner Bequest CLXXX 57).
d.
The two sketches at the bottom of the page depict two sides of an altar dedicated to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Sol Sarapis.6 The study on the left represents the left-hand side of the altar bearing a panel of a winged Victory and a seated figure of Roma.7 The study on the right represents the right-hand side with a panel of a sacrificial scene.8 Studies of the front and back can be found on folios 57 and 58 (D15214 and D15216; Turner Bequest 56 and 57).