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Temple of Diana at Ephesus

Maker

(artist)
1498-1574

Title

Temple of Diana at Ephesus

Date of Production

1570

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines, incised for transfer, the verso prepared with black chalk

Dimensions

Height: 20.3 cm
Width: 26.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.647

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords





Related Works

Colossus of Rhodes

Label Text

The Temple at Ephesus, dedicated to the goddess Diana, was known as one of the world’s wonders due to its vast proportions. This strikingly detailed drawing by the major Netherlandish artist, Maerten van Heemskerck, shows the process of construction, depicting an active human presence in an architectural image. In the foreground, figures wielding various tools endeavour to build the grand structure. The figure holding the plan at the left may represent the architect, Denocrates.

Notes

One of a series of drawings issued under the title 'Wonders of the World', engraved by Philippe Galle, 1572 (see impression at the BM, 1948,0410.4.75). D.1952.RW.648 is part of the same series, as are two drawings in the Louvre (of the Colosseum and the Walls of Babylon); the other four preparatory drawings are lost.

Provenance

Jan Pietersz. Zoomer, Amsterdam (1641-1724), L.1511; Archibald George Blomefield Russell, London and Swanage (1879-1955); F.R. Meatyard (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. (£4, along with D.1952.RW.648)); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

Special Display - Building and Destruction - Architectural Imagery from the Courtauld's Drawings Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/10/2009-17/01/2010

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/09/1986-30/11/1986; The Drawing Center, New York, 08/04/1986-26/07/1986

Mantegna to Cezanne - Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 24/02/1983-19/06/1983

Literature

Veldman, Ilja M., The New Hollstein: Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts 1450-1700, Maarten van Heemskerck, Part II, Roosendaal 1994
cat. no. no. 517
p. 193

The Northern Landscape: Flemish, Dutch and British Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1986
cat. no. 44
Illus. p. 113

Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
no. 26, pp. 20-21
Illus. p. 34 ...More

Duclaux, Lise, 'Dessins de Martin van Heemskerck' in 'La revue du Louvre et des Musées de France', December 1981 - pp. 375-380; 5/6
pp. 378-79
Illus. 9 on p. 379 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto, all in brown ink, artist's hand: upper left corner: "4. Dianae Ephesiae Templum"; within the drawing, lower left on block, signed and dated: "Heemskerck / Inventor / 1570 //"; within the drawing, lower right edge, on end of column: "4".

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Jan Pietersz. Zoomer (L.1511). Verso: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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