The Temple of Vesta and the Falls at Tivoli (1859): Art, History and Details

The Temple of Vesta and the Falls at Tivoli (1859) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is William Callow (British, 1812–1908).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

A meticulously finished, grand-scale presentation watercolor, this drawing was exhibited in 1859 at the Society of Painters in Water Colours in London. The view was taken from a low vantage point, foregrounding closely observed, moss-covered rocks amid the frothy cascade. Jewel-like, the Temple of Vesta surmounts the imposing cliff, gleaming white against a crisp, blue sky. The majesty of the view is underscored by the presence of nearly imperceptible figures in the far distance hanging linens to dry along the temple wall.

Object facts

• Title: The Temple of Vesta and the Falls at Tivoli
• Date: 1859
• Creator attribution: William Callow (British, 1812–1908)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: watercolor with gouache and graphite underdrawing
• Dimensions: Sheet: 75.1 x 57.8 cm (29 9/16 x 22 3/4 in.)
• Collection: DR - British
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2011.4

A detail from the museum

William Callow likely based the view seen in this drawing on sketches made during his first trip to Italy in 1840.

Collection credit

Sundry Purchase Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Cundall, H.M., ed. William Callow, R.W.S., F.R.G.S.: An Autobiography. London: Adam and Charles Black, 1908.
• Reynolds, Jan. William Callow, R.W.S. London: B.T. Batsford, 1980.
• Mann, C. Griffith, and Amy Bracken Sparks. "Acquisitions 2011." Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine 52, no. 2 (March/April 2012): 10-27.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.