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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1787-1801 Student and master > Royal Academy c.1789-99 > Studies from the Antique and Other ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Study of the Vatican Meleager ?1792

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Study of the Vatican Meleager’ ?1792
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Study of the Vatican Meleager ?1792
D00061
Turner Bequest V H
Pencil and black chalk on white wove paper, 366 x 309 mm
Inscribed in red ink ‘V H’ bottom right
Stamped in black ink ‘V H’ bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
The fourth-century BC statue of Meleager is usually attributed to the Greek sculptor Skopas; the marble copy in the Vatican Museum, Rome dates from the first century AD. The use of tone to model form is relatively sophisticated in this drawing. Areas of chalk have been rubbed, possibly wetted and brushed on, to suggest the use of wash. Another study of the Meleager is Tate D00062 (Turner Bequest V I).
Technical notes:
The edges of the sheet are irregularly trimmed.
Verso:
Blank

Andrew Wilton
April 2012

How to cite

Andrew Wilton, ‘Study of the Vatican Meleager ?1792 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, April 2012, 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-study-of-the-vatican-meleager-r1140256, accessed 31 October 2025.