Joseph Mallord William Turner

As Cecilia Powell first identified, the subject of this rough outline sketch is the façade of the Second Temple of Hera (formerly known as the Temple of Neptune), one of the three celebrated fifth-century Greek ruins at Paestum.1 Turner’s viewpoint is from the eastern end of the building looking across the frontal colonnade towards the adjacent Temple of Hera (commonly but erroneously known as the Basilica). For a more detailed discussion and other sketches of the temples see folio 31 (D15968; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 29).