Joseph Mallord William Turner, Venice, the Bridge of Sighs exhibited 1840. Tate.
9 rooms in JMW Turner
Turner’s art revolved around travel or being ‘on the wing’, as he called it. The paintings in this room present Europe as Turner saw and imagined it
When starting out Turner could only see Europe through other artists’ work. The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (1793–1815) prevented travel abroad except for a brief period of peace in 1802, which gave Turner chance to visit France and Switzerland.
He had made the most of Britain, touring every summer to gather material for his art. But from 1817, Turner’s horizons opened. He then explored France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Denmark, Bohemia (now the Czech Republic), Switzerland and, most notably, Italy.
Turner first visited Italy in 1819 when he was 44. He spent 6 months zig-zagging his way across the country, filling 23 sketchbooks with drawings, notes and new ideas. On return visits he based himself in Rome, Naples and Venice. He found Italy’s history and its scenery hugely inspiring. Its hazy light and brilliant colour seeped into more and more of his canvases, regardless of their subject.
Using guidebooks and advice from friends, Turner planned his trips carefully. Travelling light and usually alone, he ran into many issues, from lost luggage and language barriers to stomach upsets and bad weather. In 1802 it took him several days to reach France by horse-drawn coach and sailing boat. By 1830 he could board a steamboat in London and be in France, Belgium or the Netherlands in a matter of hours. Turner’s last trips abroad were to northern France by steamer in 1845.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Dogano, San Giorgio, Citella, from the Steps of the Europa exhibited 1842
When a critic saw this picture at the Royal Academy in 1842, he said, ‘Venice was surely built to be painted by Turner’. Turner was attracted to how water, light, sky and grand architecture interacted in the city. Here he captures the reflections of the churches of San Giorgio Maggiore and Santa Maria della Presentazione, known as the ‘Zitelle’ (or Citella). He painted this scene from his hotel, The Europa, at the mouth of the Grand Canal.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Decline of the Carthaginian Empire ... exhibited 1817
17th century French painter Claude Lorrain (known as Claude) was Turner’s favourite ‘Old Master’ painter. Turner adopted Claude’s style of painting in many paintings at this time. It is one of a pair of paintings showing the rise and fall of the Carthaginian Empire in North Africa. Carthage was the most powerful empire before the rise of ancient Rome. Its decline is symbolised by the setting sun. Turner saw the rise and fall of once-great empires as inevitable. The other half of the pair, Dido building Carthage, or the Rise of the Carthaginian Empire, hangs, at Turner’s request, in the National Gallery alongside a painting by Claude.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Rome, from the Vatican. Raffaelle, Accompanied by La Fornarina, Preparing his Pictures for the Decoration of the Loggia exhibited 1820
Turner first visited Rome when he was 42 years old, and at the height of his success as an artist. The city was full of associations with the subjects from Roman antiquity, mythology and art, which Turner dramatised in his work. When he returned home, Turner painted this sweeping view from the Vatican, across St Peter’s Square towards the Abruzzi hills. It embraces all that Rome meant to him. It is the historic centre of the Roman Empire, and its successor, the Christian Church, and then of the great artists of the Renaissance - including Raphael, who stands in the foreground.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Bay of Baiae, with Apollo and the Sibyl exhibited 1823
Turner has used Baiae, in the Bay of Naples, as the backdrop here. In an ancient Greek myth, the priestess Cumaean Sibyl asks the god Apollo to let her live for as many years as the grains of sand she could hold in her hand. However, as she did not ask for eternal youth she faded away until only her voice remained. Turner’s landscape reflects the theme of her story. Time has changed the Roman architecture, but the beauty of the natural landscape remains.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Caligula’s Palace and Bridge exhibited 1831
The theme of this painting is the decay of past glories. According to stories of ancient Rome, Emperor Caligula constructed a three-mile-long floating bridge between the towns of Puteoli and Baiae. He then crossed it on a horse. Caligula’s bridge was supposed to have been built from boats fastened together, but Turner depicted it as a solid construction. When it was first exhibited, a critic described the painting as ‘one of the most beautiful and magnificent landscapes that ever mind conceived or pencil drew’.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Castle in an Alpine Valley, called ‘Heidelberg’ c.1844–5
The crowd of figures belonged to the court of the ‘Winter Queen’, Princess Elizabeth. Formerly Elizabeth Stuart, she was the eldest daughter of King James I of England and Ireland (previously King James VI Scotland). Princess Elizabeth married the Elector Palatine of the Rhine (southwest Germany), Friedrich V, in 1613. The couple are shown sitting on the left, with Heidelberg castle on the hillside behind them. Their court was briefly famous for its extravagant entertainments, although Friedrich lost control of the Palatine in 1620, and the couple fled to Holland. Elizabeth and Friedrich were given the nicknames ‘Winter Queen’ and ‘Winter King’ to reflect their short-lived reign.
Gallery label, February 2019
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Regulus 1828, reworked 1837
Regulus was a Roman general who was captured by the Carthaginians. They sent him back to Rome to negotiate the release of Carthaginian prisoners. When he returned to Carthage having failed his mission, he was tortured by being left out in the sun with his eyelids sewn open. The dazzling light in the centre of this work dramatically illustrates Regulus’ cruel punishment. Turner first exhibited this painting in Rome in 1828. His audience there would have recognised it as a seaport from a work by the 17th-century painter, Claude Lorrain displayed in the Uffizzi gallery in Florence. It appears that Turner wanted to show himself as part of a tradition of landscape painting started by Claude.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Ancient Rome; Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus exhibited 1839
The story of Agrippina was popular with history painters as an example of love and devotion. Agrippina was married to Germanicus, a Roman general. He was both the nephew and adopted son of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius. Germanicus died in the city of Antioch, killed by either poison or magic. Agrippina carried his ashes back to Rome in an urn. Turner paints the city in great detail, although Agrippina landed at Brundisium (now Brindisi) rather than Rome. In 1839 Turner exhibited this painting with a view of modern Rome. The pair of works shows the contrast between the city in the 19th Century and in the days of the Roman Empire.
Gallery label, July 2020
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Venice, the Bridge of Sighs exhibited 1840
Byron was Turner’s favourite modern poet. He illustrated Byron’s Life and Works for the publisher John Murray, and painted six pictures citing Byron’s long poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (published from 1812). Byron was a champion of liberty and independence across Europe. He wrote movingly about Venice, where he lived on and off between 1817 and 1820. To Byron’s disgust, the once-splendid republic had been handed to the Austrian empire after the Napoleonic Wars. Turner exhibited this picture of the Bridge of Sighs, Doge’s Palace and prison with a couplet adapted from Byron: ‘I stood upon a bridge, a palace and / A prison on each hand’.
Gallery label, November 2022
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artworks in Travels in Europe
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Opening of the Wallhalla, 1842 exhibited 1843
Turner could claim to be a published poet. He wrote a poem, Fallacies of Hope to accompany his pictures and verses were printed in Royal Academy catalogues. To represent Turner as poet as well as painter, his verse for this picture, exhibited in 1843 is shown here. It moves from the Napoleonic Wars to peace and liberation. The Walhalla near Regensburg was built by the king of Bavaria to celebrate German history and culture. It was started during the war in 1807 and completed after it ended.
Gallery label, November 2022
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artworks in Travels in Europe
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