A Tomb in Lycia, Turkey
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “A Tomb in Lycia, Turkey” now? Collection: Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Not on view at present. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Gandy was an architect and drafts man. In 1811-1813 he took part in an expedition led by Sir William Gell, on behalf of the Society of Dilettanti, that investigated and drew antiquities in Greece and south-west Turkey, including Lycia. A large number of drawings from that trip are in the collections of the RIBA. The watercolour shown here was possibly done after that trip, but it has not yet been possible to identify the tomb, despite the distinctive relief on the side. Some commentators believe it may have been destroyed, or that Gandy may have even concocted the tomb from various sources, and placed it in a suitably picturesque setting.
Read on
However, the background of cliffs and the towering reeds by the shore of a freshwater lake are reminiscent of fertile places and archaeological sites like modern Dalyan and Caunos. The abundance of small details such as the brown pebbles on the roof of the tomb, the remaining cut stems of the reeds near the feet of the Turk with the billhook, and the almost readable carved inscription on the tomb, imply that if Gandy did invent or conflate real things in his imagination, he was extremely good at it. From this drawing it would be perfectly possible to build a replica of the tomb. In a sense, in some cases that was done, for details of sculpture and construction were borrowed from Lycian monuments and freely used in British neo-classical architecture.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- SD.412
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
