- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721-1820)
- Title
-
- Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
- Date
- 1799 - 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 30.7 × 25.8 cm, 12 ⅛ × 10 ⅛ in
- Subject Terms
- Italian View: Rome
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0888
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 305 as 'Tempio D' Antonino e Faustino'; '1798–9'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
Henry Phipps, 1st Earl of Mulgrave (1755–1831); then by descent; Christie’s, 29 May 1873, lot 76 as 'Ruins at Rome'; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £30 9s (stock no.2107); bought by Reginald Heber Prance (1829–1912), 17 February 1874, £47 5s; his sale, Christie’s, 9 May 1894, lot 52; bought by Thos. Agnew & Sons, £7 17s 6d (stock no.1130) for J. S. Storr, plus 10% commission; then by descent to Mrs A. G. Storr; her sale, Christie's, 12 December 1913, lot 18 as 'Ruins at Rome'; bought by 'Bowden', £26 5s; J. Palser & Sons (stock no.17536); bought by Thomas Girtin (1874–1960), 16 May 1918, £40, as 'Ruins at Rome'; given to Tom Girtin (1913–94), c.1938; bought by John Baskett on behalf of Paul Mellon (1907–99), 1970; presented to the Center, 1975
Exhibition History
Agnew’s, 1874, no.82 as ’Ruins at Rome’; Cambridge, 1920, no.28 as ’Ruins of a Temple (after Piranesi)’; London, 1962a, no.148; New Haven, 1986a, no.69 as ’Tempio d’Antonino e Faustina, after Giovanni Battista Piranesi’
Bibliography
Mayne, 1949, pl.25 as 'after Piranesi'; Hardie, 1934, p.5; YCBA Online as 'Tempio d' Antonio e Faustina, after Piranesi' (Accessed 14/09/2022)
Place depicted
Other entries in Late Watercolours:
Samuel William Reynolds and Painting for the Art Market
An Imaginary City, with Antique Buildings
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
Ancient Ruins, with an Obelisk
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ancient Ruins, with a Gothic Church
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
A Classical Composition, with a Church and Column
Walker Art Gallery, National Museums Liverpool
The Arch of Janus, Rome
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Temple of Clitumnus
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, with the Arch of Septimius Severus
Private Collection
A Town on an Estuary
Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence
A Lagoon Capriccio
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
An Unidentified Coastal Landscape with a Windmill
Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight
Barnard Castle, from the River Tees
Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle upon Tyne
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Exterior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
Lindisfarne Priory, Northumberland (English Heritage)
Kelso Abbey: The West Front
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
Jedburgh Abbey, from the Riverbank
The Higgins, Bedford
On the River Medway, with a Boatyard, Beached Vessels and Hulks
Private Collection
Bisham Abbey, on the River Thames
Private Collection
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
An Unidentified Ruin next to a Bridge over a Stream, Said to Be Furness Abbey
Touchstones Rochdale
The Gatehouse of Morpeth Castle
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Buildings on the River Nidd, near Knaresborough
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Hill
British Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from Kirkstall Bridge, Morning
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Kirkstall Abbey, from the Canal, Evening
Private Collection
A Distant View of Kirkstall Abbey
Williamson Art Gallery & Museum, Birkenhead
An Unidentified Scene, Formerly Known as ‘Kirkstall Village’
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Wetherby Bridge and Mills, Looking across the Weir
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
British Museum, London
Wetherby: Looking through the Bridge to the Mills
Leeds Art Gallery
Kirk Deighton, near Wetherby
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The New Walk on the Banks of the River Ouse
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
York: The Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern
Private Collection
York Minster from the South East, Layerthorpe Bridge and Postern to the Right
Private Collection
A Farmyard with Barns, Ladder and Figures; A Sky Study
Courtauld Gallery, London
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Leeds Art Gallery
Ripon Minster, with Skellgate Bridge
Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery
A Distant View of Ripon Minster, from the River Skell
Private Collection
Ripon Minster, from the South East
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Ripon Minster, from the South West
Private Collection
The Abbey Mill, near Knaresborough
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Mountain Stream in Spate, Possibly the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church from across the River Wharfe
Eton College, Windsor
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Bolton Abbey: The East End of the Priory Church, from across the River Wharfe
Leeds Art Gallery
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Private Collection
The Banks of the River Wharfe, with Bolton Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Stepping Stones on the River Wharfe, near Bolton Abbey
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Storiths Heights, near Bolton Abbey, from the River Wharfe
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Richmond Castle, from the River Swale
Leeds Art Gallery
A Farmhouse in Malhamdale, Known as 'Kirkby Priory, near Malham'
British Museum, London
An Ancient Oak, Said to Be on the River Ure
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection, Norfolk
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Private Collection
Cottages at Hawes, from Gayle Beck
Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Guisborough Priory: The Ruined East End
Tate, London
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory; The Tithe Barn, Abbotsbury
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Distant View of Guisborough Priory
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
A Farmhouse, Said to Be near Newcastle upon Tyne
Private Collection
Warkworth Castle, from the River Coquet
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Upland Landscape, Said to Show Etal Castle
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The River Tweed at Kelso, Looking Upstream
Courtauld Gallery, London
The Eildon Hills, from the River Tweed
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
A Distant View of Dryburgh Abbey, with the Eildon Hills Beyond
Private Collection
The Valley of the Tweed, with Melrose Abbey in the Distance
Private Collection
Jedburgh Abbey, from Jed Water
Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Jedburgh Abbey, from the South East
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
The Village of Jedburgh
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh
Southampton: The South Gate and Old Gaol
Private Collection
Bristol Harbour, with St Mary Redcliffe in the Distance
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
A Wharf with Shipping, Possibly at Bristol
Art Institute of Chicago
A Rainbow over the River Exe
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin
A Rainbow over the River Exe
The Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens, San Marino
A Rainbow over the River Exe
Graves Gallery, Sheffield
Lydford Castle, from the River Lyd
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
St Vincent’s Rocks and the Avon Gorge
The Whitworth, The University of Manchester
On the River Taw, North Devon, Looking from Braunton Marsh towards Instow and Appledore
National Gallery of Art, Washington
Conwy Castle, from the River Gyffin
Private Collection, Norfolk
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea (The White House, Chelsea)
Tate, London
Chelsea Reach, Looking towards Battersea
Private Collection, Norfolk
A Panoramic Landscape, with Figures Trawling a Pond
Private Collection
Landscape with a Distant Ridge, Possibly Hampstead Heath
Yale Center for British Art, New Haven
An Inn Yard, Edgware Road, Paddington
British Museum, London
The Thames from a Window of the Old Toy Inn, Hampton Court
British Museum, London
The Old Cottage, Widmore, near Bromley
British Museum, London
Shipping on the River Medway
Museum of New Zealand, Wellington
A Farmyard with Cattle, Poultry and Labourers Unloading Hay, Possibly Pinkney's Farm, Wimbish
Art Institute of Chicago
Farmhouse and Outbuildings, Possibly in Essex
Aberdeen Art Gallery
An Unidentified Village Street with a Church Tower in the Distance
British Museum, London
A Panoramic Landscape, Possibly Showing Primrose Hill, London
Private Collection
A Mountain Stream with a Watermill and Bridge
Eton College, Windsor
Unidentified Landscape with a Distant Rain Shower
National Museum of Wales, Cardiff
Warkworth Church, with the Bridge Beyond
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
An Italianate Landscape with Two Monks
Private Collection
Revisions & Feedback
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About this Work
This watercolour has always been said to have been made from a small etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78) that was published in his Antichità Romane de’ Tempi della Repubblica, e de’ primi Imperatori (Roman Antiquities of the Time of the Republic and the First Emperors) (see figure 1), which was indeed the source of three other architectural views by Girtin (TG0885, TG0886 and TG0887) (Girtin and Loshak, 1954, p.175). In fact, the work is based on another view of the ancient Temple of Antoninus and Faustina in the Roman Forum by Charles-Louis Clérisseau (1721–1820), which Girtin would have known as an etching by Domenico Cunego (1727–1803) published at some point between 1760 and 1767 (see the source image above). The error is understandable given Girtin’s frequent use of Piranesi’s etchings as his source material, but it also no doubt stemmed from the changes to the composition that he introduced, which resulted in a more concentrated upright image that transforms Clérisseau’s original. Thus, the artist trimmed the composition at the top and to the right and omitted the right-hand third, losing the church and the three columns of the Temple of Castor and Pollux in the process. Gone too is the distracting genre scene of a crowd terrified by an escaped bull, to be replaced by a gentler, timeless vision of rustic figures going about their business under the imposing remains of the ancient temple, and there is no hint that the portico fronts a modern Christian church.
Girtin made at least three other watercolours after prints from Clérisseau’s views of ancient ruins, two of which came from the collection of his early patron John Henderson (1764–1843) – Rome: The Temple of Saturn (TG0893) and The Temple of Augustus at Pula (TG0896) – and it is a fair assumption that Girtin gained access to his source material at Henderson’s home at the Adelphi in London. However, unlike in the cases of those two works, both of which were executed in pen and ink around 1796–97, there is no evidence that this watercolour was produced for Henderson, and stylistically it seems to date from slightly later. It thus has links with a series of watercolours of architectural views from secondary sources that Girtin appears to have made for the open market, including other subjects taken from Piranesi (such as TG0887). The important point here is that by this date, say 1799–1800, Girtin had thoroughly absorbed any stylistic lessons that were to be derived from copying the prints of artists such as Piranesi and Clérisseau, and watercolours such as this were produced instead to meet the demand for a new type of commodity: images of ancient scenery that showcased Girtin’s skills as a watercolourist able to rise to the challenge of depicting the remains of Rome’s imperial might without actually visiting the city.
1799 - 1800
The Arch of Janus
TG0885
1797 - 1798
The Temple of Augustus at Pula in Istria
TG0886
1799 - 1800
The Temple of Clitumnus
TG0887
1796 - 1797
Rome: The Temple of Saturn, Called the Temple of Concord
TG0893
1797 - 1798
The Temple of Augustus at Pula in Istria
TG0896
1799 - 1800
The Temple of Clitumnus
TG0887