Joseph Mallord William Turner The Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Roma, Rome 1819
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 50 Recto:
The Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Roma, Rome 1819
D16379
Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 50
Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 50
Pencil and grey watercolour wash on white wove ‘Valleyfield’ paper, 229 x 368 mm
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?Gor]’ within steps of Temple of Venus and Roma on left
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIX 50’ bottom right
Inscribed by the artist in pencil ‘[?Gor]’ within steps of Temple of Venus and Roma on left
Stamped in black ‘CLXXXIX 50’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
References
1909
A.J. Finberg, A Complete Inventory of the Drawings of the Turner Bequest, London 1909, vol.I, p.563, as ‘The Colosseum.’.
2008
Nicola Moorby, ‘Un tesoro italiano: i taccuini di Turner’, in James Hamilton, Nicola Moorby, Christopher Baker and others, Turner e l’Italia, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara 2008, pp.102, 105 note 29.
2009
Nicola Moorby, ‘An Italian Treasury: Turner’s sketchbooks’, in James Hamilton, Nicola Moorby, Christopher Baker and others, Turner & Italy, exhibition catalogue, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh 2009, pp.115, 155 note 30.
During his 1819 sojourn in Rome, Turner made numerous sketches in and around the Colosseum (see D16349; Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 23).1 This study depicts the view from a point at the top of the Via Sacra, near the Arch of Constantine. On the right is the Colosseum and on the left, the ruined Temple of Venus and Roma. This vast structure dating from the second century AD is comprised of two shrines, one for each of the respective goddesses, which stand back to back at the eastern end of the Forum. It is the eastern facing apse of Venus with its coffered half-dome ceiling which faces the Colosseum. In the background between the two Roman ruins is the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli and the Torre dei Margani. In order to achieve the most effective pictorial composition Turner has manipulated the angle at which he has drawn the Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Roma. It is not actually possible to see the surviving section of the northern outer wall of the former at the same time as the inner apse of the latter. Turner has pulled the wall of the Colosseum round as though he were viewing it straight on from the Temple, rather than to the side of it (compare Tate D16364; Turner Bequest CLXXXIX 37).
Verso:
Blank except for traces of grey watercolour wash; stamped in black ‘CLXXXIX 50’ bottom left.
Nicola Moorby
July 2009
How to cite
Nicola Moorby, ‘The Colosseum and the Temple of Venus and Roma, Rome 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, July 2009, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www