Temple of Minerva Medica

The name given to the building in this drawing, “Temple of Minerva Medica,” derived from the discovery of a statue of Minerva (Athena) known as the Athena Giustiniani (Vatican Museums) in the area. It was therefore identified, erroneously, with a temple of Minerva, goddess of medicine, and was one of the most frequently drawn of all Roman monuments in the eighteenth century. In fact, it was a nymphaeum built in the second half of the third century CE, enclosing a sacred spring. It is a forlorn structure today, barely visible beside the main railway line out of Rome. Harper’s drawing is dated 1758, two years after his return to Germany.