The picture shows not the Temple of Minerva, which had stood opposite until it was destroyed in 1606 by Pope Paul V, but a remnant of the colonnade around the wall of the Forum Transitorium, otherwise known as the Forum of Nerva. The mistaken inscription derives from the fact that there is a statue of Minerva in the niche above, and reliefs relating to the goddess in the frieze.

Literature: Frank L. Emanuel, William Callow R.W.S. (1812-1908) with some reflections on Victorian and other Modern Art (Walker’s Quarterly, 1926), p. 44

Provenance: From the collection of the artist’s widow; with Walker’s Galleries, 1926; with Colnaghi; Major-General Sir John D’Arcy Anderson and Lady Elizabeth Anderson, by whom given to Winchester College, 1993