- Description
-
- Creator(s)
- Thomas Girtin (1775-1802) after Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778)
- Title
-
- The Arch of Janus, Rome
- Date
- 1799 - 1800
- Medium and Support
- Graphite and watercolour on laid paper
- Dimensions
- 21.1 × 31 cm, 8 ¼ × 12 ¼ in
- Subject Terms
- Italian View: Ancient Rome
-
- Collection
- Catalogue Number
- TG0885
- Girtin & Loshak Number
- 302 as 'Tempio di Diano'; '1798–9'
- Description Source(s)
- Viewed in 2001
Provenance
J. Palser & Sons (stock no.13846); bought by George Wyndham Hog Girtin (1835–1911), 3 October 1895, as 'Paris'; then by descent to Thomas Girtin (1874–1960); 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
Norwich, 1903, no.60 as ’Porta Nigra, Treves’; Sheffield, 1953, no.49; London, 1962a, no.147 as ’Tempio di Diano’; Manchester, 1975, no.50 as ’Arch of Janus, Rome, after Piranesi’; New Haven, 1986a, no.68; London, 2002, no.62
Bibliography
Davies, 1924, pl.74 as 'Temple of Diana, from an Etching by Piranesi'; Hardie, 1934, p.5; Mayne, 1949, p.104
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
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About this Work
This watercolour, depicting the Roman Arch of Janus in Rome, is based on an etching by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–78) that was published in 1748 as plate eleven of Antichità Romane de’ Tempi della Repubblica, e de’ primi Imperatori (Roman Antiquities of the Time of the Republic and the First Emperors) (see the source image above). The etching was republished in 1765 in Archi Trionfali ed Altri Monumenti (Triumphal Arches and Other Monuments), where it was titled The Temple of Janus, though the structure is now thought to be a triumphal arch, built in the fourth century in the Forum Boarium. Girtin made three watercolours from Piranesi’s etchings for Antichità Romane or its reprint, including The Temple of Clitumnus (TG0887), which, as it has the same dimensions, may have been conceived as a pair to this work, as a well as the larger, unfinished The Temple of Augustus at Pula (TG0886), which appears to have been made at an earlier date. Piranesi made another very similar, though much larger, etching of the Temple of Janus for his Vedute di Roma (Views of Rome), and this was, in error, illustrated in the 2002 Girtin bicentenary exhibition catalogue as the source for this watercolour (Smith, 2002b, p.88). Girtin’s drawing clearly follows the smaller etching, which includes more of the Arco degli Argentari (Arch of the Money-Changers) to the left and shows the structure from a slightly different angle, though it does restore the full height of the arch, and so it is possible that the artist also had access to the other print, which depicts the whole of the structure.
The fact that Girtin included the superstructure of the arch in full is a little surprising since, to the left of the composition and in his other versions of Piranesi’s prints, the artist scrupulously followed the daring cut-offs that the great printmaker introduced into his architectural views in order to increase their dramatic impact. In this case, Girtin makes a feature of the looming form of the gateway reaching out to the left, helping to monumentalise what might otherwise have been a less than imposing sight. Such effects are a feature of the increasingly dramatic way that Girtin depicted his British architectural subjects, and Susan Morris has convincingly described the impact that Piranesi’s prints had on works such as An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church (TG1107), which is dated 1797 (Morris, 1986, p.18). This watercolour and its pair probably postdate the Lindisfarne view, however. With its close stylistic links to a group of watercolours made from etchings after compositions by Marco Ricci (1676–1730) (such as TG1464), this work appears to have been executed independently from the copies of prints that Girtin produced for John Henderson (1764–1843), which also included a number after Piranesi. In other words, Girtin seems to have worked on a group of copies of prints by the most celebrated of his predecessors for sale on the open market, quite separate from the commissions he received from Henderson, and these were executed at a date when Piranesi’s influence had already worked its way into his compositions. The crucial point here is that whilst Girtin produced copies on commission from sketches and prints in the possession of a patron, others dating from around 1799–1800 were produced as a distinctive new commodity and, as with the architectural engravings that Girtin acquired during his trip to Paris, he may even have owned the source material that he transformed.
1799 - 1800
The Temple of Clitumnus
TG0887
1797 - 1798
The Temple of Augustus at Pula in Istria
TG0886
1797
An Interior View of the Ruins of Lindisfarne Priory Church
TG1107
1800 - 1801
A Classical Composition, with Figures Admiring the Sculptures
TG1464