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

As Cecilia Powell first identified, the subject of this rough outline sketch is an interior view 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 north-east corner of the building looking south across the surviving columns of the inner cella towards the colonnade on the opposite lateral side. Just visible beyond is the relative position the adjacent Temple of Hera (commonly but erroneously known as the Basilica). Powell has suggested that Turner’s approach reflects his knowledge of the dramatic interior views of the temples by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778) which he would have seen in the collection of his friend, John Soane.2 He had already used one of these drawings as the basis for a perspective diagram for his Royal Academy lectures (see Tate D17072; Turner Bequest CXCV 102).3

For further interior views see folios 33–33 verso and 44 verso (D15972–D15973 and D15995; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 31–31a and 42a). For a more detailed discussion and other sketches of the temples see folio 31 (D15968; Turner Bequest CLXXXVI 29).