Clitunno

Artist James Giles (Aberdeen, Scotland, 1801 - 1870)

Date1824

Mediumpencil ink and watercolour on paper

ClassificationsPaintings And Drawings

DimensionsSight Size: Height: 40 cm, Width: 26.2 cm
Frame: Height: 59.5 cm, Width: 44.5 cm

AcquisitionBequeathed in 1992 by John Sparrow OBE.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDAG010571

Keywords

About MeThe Clitunno, in Antiquity the Clitumnus, is a river in Umbria, Italy. The name is of uncertain origin, but it was also borne by the river god. The Clitunno rises from a spring not far from the ancient Via Flaminia, near the town of Campello sul Clitunno between Spoleto and Trevi.

The spring was celebrated as a great beauty spot by the Romans but also by Lord Byron as was the Temple of Clitumnus, which sits on the banks of the river, and which Giles depicts here. He shows the Tempietto del Clitunno (Temple of Clitumnus) looking much as it does today. It too was much admired and was described by Pliny the Younger in his Epistulae book VII, 8: "Next to it [to the river] stands an ancient and venerable temple in which is placed the river-god Clitumnus clothed in the usual robe of state; and indeed the prophetic oracles here delivered sufficiently testify the immediate presence of that divinity". A popular touristic spot in Roman times, it attracted Roman citizens and emperors alike to consult and to worship the oracles of the river god.