Italian Landscape (Morning)

This composition has been known under several titles, notably The Temple of Venus at Baiae. Although that identification has been challenged, it is partly correct. It has not hitherto been noticed that the present painting shows precisely the same building (which was actually baths rather than a temple) as that in a drawing by Wilson in the Victoria and Albert Museum but from the opposite side, revealing the ruined open aspect of the structure. Nonetheless, Wilson has made radical adjustments to its coastal setting.