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

This page contains a rough sketch of a section of coffered ceiling fallen from the vault of the Basilica of Constantine. The piece can still be found in the same position today, at ground level in front of the building in the Roman Forum. Despite the swift, schematic nature of the drawing Turner’s record reveals that the ornamental detailing was in a better state of preservation during the nineteenth century than it is today after decades of twentieth century acid erosion. For other sketches relating to the Basilica see folio 59 (D16261; Turner Bequest CLXXXVIII 58).