J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8

Joseph Mallord William Turner The So-Called Temple of Vesta, Tivoli 1819

Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 90 Verso:
The So-Called Temple of Vesta, Tivoli 1819
D15098
Turner Bequest CLXXIX 89 a
Pencil on white wove paper, 112 x 186 mm
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This sketch depicts a view of the so-called Temple of Vesta, a circular ruin dating from the first century BC, which stands on the edge of the gorge at the northern edge of the town. The hasty character of the lines and the areas of cross-hatching and heavy shading suggest that Turner was sketching at the end of the day when the light was failing in the west and parts of the landscape were cast into deep shadow. For a detailed description and further sketches of the Temple of Vesta see folio 3 verso (D14938).

Nicola Moorby
February 2010

How to cite

Nicola Moorby, ‘The So-Called Temple of Vesta, Tivoli 1819 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, February 2010, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2012, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-so-called-temple-of-vesta-tivoli-r1137733, accessed 19 April 2024.