1782
watercolor
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Dominant colour
The Two Great Temples at Paestum is a 1782 watercolor by Cozens, a Neoclassicism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
This painting shows two ancient stone temples with tall columns standing side by side. In front of them, a flat landscape stretches out with a few scattered bushes and some small figures walking. The sky above is pale and cloudy, giving the whole scene a quiet, soft light. The artist focused on the grand, empty feel of the ruins, almost like they’re waiting for something. The figures in the foreground look tiny compared to the huge columns, making the temples seem even more imposing. If you like this, check out Romanticism to see how artists used ruins to tell bigger stories.
A watercolour from 1782 by Cozens shows the two ruined temples at Paestum, with scrubland in the foreground and three armed figures entering the scene in the lower left corner, rendered in pale grey and blue tones. The work is inscribed on the back with its title in the artist’s hand. Cozens made four sketches during his visit on 7 November 1782, later converting them into four watercolours for William Beckford; two are now in the Oldham Gallery and one is held by Peter Agnew.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Cozens is an English surname. Following the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, the name Cozens was first found in Britina. It was a name for a person who was related to someone of note in the area. Further research…
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