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Sardis, One of the Seven Churches

Watercolour
1834-1835 (painted)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

In 1832-33, the publisher John Murray commissioned Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, William Turner, David Roberts, Clarkson Stanfield and James Duffield Harding, and other established artists, to provide drawings for a series of prints illustrating Biblical scenery, published as Landscape Illustrations of The Bible (London, 1836). Some drawings were imaginary but others were based on direct observations of archaeological sites. This watercolour depicts the remains of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis. Now the flourishing town of Sart in modern Turkey, Sardis was a desolate spot in the 1830s. Then, the visitor saw only a few ruins, a remnant of the fabulous wealth of one of the Seven Churches of Asia to which the Apocalypse, the Revelation of St John the Divine, had prophesied utter destruction.

As Stanfield never visited Sardis, his watercolour must have been based on an existing composition. Previously, it was thought that he had drawn inspiration from an on-the-spot sketch by a ‘Mr Maude’ (SD.639), which shows the only two columns of the Temple of Artemis still standing. However, Stanfield’s watercolour is, in fact, a more accurate and complete depiction of the remaining architectural fragments. It is highly unlikely, therefore, that he based his watercolour on this work. Instead, it is possible that he referred to a drawing by the celebrated architect C.R. Cockerell who visited the temple in 1812 and made at least one sketch of the site (Yale Center for British Art, folio A/N/128).

Regardless of the source, Stanfield created a dramatic rendering of this ancient site, introducing a thunderstorm and a rider thrown from his horse, panicked by the apocalyptic weather. This was not merely a picture of some ruins, the image referred to the fulfilment of a Biblical prophecy, which looked forward to the final days, the terrible moment of God's Last Judgement.


Object details

Category
Object type
TitleSardis, One of the Seven Churches (popular title)
Materials and techniques
Water- and bodycolour over pencil, heightened with white, and with scratching out, on stiff paper
Brief description
Watercolour, Sardis, One of the Seven Churches, 1834-1835, by Clarkson Stanfield RA
Physical description
Watercolour of the ruins of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis.
Dimensions
  • Height: 23.3cm
  • Width: 35.3cm
Styles
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A
Object history
According to Rodney Searight: `Bt from Agnew's, 1978, £350'. [Thomas Agnew & Sons, 105th Annual Exhibition of Watercolours and Drawings, 1978 (52).]
Historical context
Reproduced in T. H. Horne, Landscape Illustrations of the Bible, 1836, Vol.II, etching and engraving by W. Finden, titled as above.

B. Llewellyn, `Changing Views of the Middle East Watercolours from the Searight Collection', The Antique Dealer & Collectors Guide, September 1983, p.51.
Subjects depicted
Places depicted
Literary referenceBible: The Seven Churches of Asia
Summary
In 1832-33, the publisher John Murray commissioned Sir Augustus Wall Callcott, William Turner, David Roberts, Clarkson Stanfield and James Duffield Harding, and other established artists, to provide drawings for a series of prints illustrating Biblical scenery, published as Landscape Illustrations of The Bible (London, 1836). Some drawings were imaginary but others were based on direct observations of archaeological sites. This watercolour depicts the remains of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis. Now the flourishing town of Sart in modern Turkey, Sardis was a desolate spot in the 1830s. Then, the visitor saw only a few ruins, a remnant of the fabulous wealth of one of the Seven Churches of Asia to which the Apocalypse, the Revelation of St John the Divine, had prophesied utter destruction.

As Stanfield never visited Sardis, his watercolour must have been based on an existing composition. Previously, it was thought that he had drawn inspiration from an on-the-spot sketch by a ‘Mr Maude’ (SD.639), which shows the only two columns of the Temple of Artemis still standing. However, Stanfield’s watercolour is, in fact, a more accurate and complete depiction of the remaining architectural fragments. It is highly unlikely, therefore, that he based his watercolour on this work. Instead, it is possible that he referred to a drawing by the celebrated architect C.R. Cockerell who visited the temple in 1812 and made at least one sketch of the site (Yale Center for British Art, folio A/N/128).

Regardless of the source, Stanfield created a dramatic rendering of this ancient site, introducing a thunderstorm and a rider thrown from his horse, panicked by the apocalyptic weather. This was not merely a picture of some ruins, the image referred to the fulfilment of a Biblical prophecy, which looked forward to the final days, the terrible moment of God's Last Judgement.
Bibliographic references
  • Evans, Mark et al. Vikutoria & Arubāto Bijutsukan-zō : eikoku romanshugi kaigaten = The Romantic tradition in British painting, 1800-1950 : masterpieces from the Victoria and Albert Museum. Japan : Brain Trust, 2002
  • Coombs, Katherine British watercolours : 1750-1950 . London: V&A Publications, 2012 p.74, pl.62
  • Fikret K. Yegül, Temple of Artemis at Sardis, 2 vols, Harvard University Press, 2020, pp. 23-24, no. 83.
Collection
Accession number
SD.1000

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Record createdApril 8, 2008
Record URL
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