JMW Turner Masterpiece Returns to Rome Before £50 Million London Auction

JMW Turner’s golden-hued masterpiece Rome, from Mount Aventine has made a brief return to the Italian capital nearly 200 years after its creation. The unlined 19th-century canvas is expected to fetch around £50 million at a Sotheby’s auction in London this December.

A renowned painting by British landscape artist William Turner has returned to the city that inspired it for a three-day exhibition at the Palazzo Rondinini. The historic return brings the work back to central Rome before it embarks on a wider international tour.

Palazzo Rondinini Exhibition and Global Tour Schedule

The panoramic painting is on public view at Palazzo Rondinini from Tuesday to Thursday. Following its brief Italian homecoming, the artwork will travel to Hong Kong and New York. It will then return to London for its scheduled appearance at Sotheby’s on 9 December.

A person stands in front of William Turner’s 1835 painting “Rome, from Mount Aventine” — Photo: BBC

Sotheby’s expects the golden-hued canvas to command an estimated £50 million when it goes under the hammer. The masterpiece last sold at auction in 2014, when a private collector purchased it for £30.3m—a figure that established the record for the most expensive painting by the artist ever sold.

Unlined Canvas Preserves Turner’s Palette Knife Marks and Fingerprints

Created in the late 1820s and completed in London, the work depicts the Tiber River as seen from the Aventine Hill. It remains on its original canvas and frame, having never undergone relining or restoration.

J.M.W. Turner’s ‘Rome, From Mount Aventine’ Masterpiece Returns to Rome After Nearly 200 Years |AJ1N

“Because it’s unlined, the surface of the picture is extraordinarily well preserved. You can see all the delicate glazes of translucent paint that he’s built up over successive painting sessions that give the picture this extraordinary sense of light and depth and glow. You can see the teeth of the brush and the scrape of the palette knife in a way that is not really seen in almost any other work by the artist.”

Julian Gascoigne, senior specialist at Sotheby’s London

This pristine preservation leaves physical traces of the artist’s studio process intact. Close examination reveals the brush hairs and even traces of fingerprints left behind when Turner moved the canvas around his workspace.

Provenance Dating Back to 19th Century Prime Minister

The masterpiece has passed through very few hands since its creation. It was originally commissioned by Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar, an amateur British artist who accompanied Turner on sketching tours.

JMW Turner Masterpiece Returns to Rome Before £50 Million London Auction — Photo: aol.co.uk

The painting stayed within Munro’s estate until 1878. At that point, Archibald Primrose, the 5th Earl of Rosebery and a prominent 19th-century British prime minister, purchased the canvas as a wedding gift for his bride, Hannah de Rothschild.

An Artist’s True Portrait of Rome

Turner first visited Rome in 1819 and returned in the late 1820s to join a thriving expatriate community of artists, writers, and poets near the Spanish Steps. While he produced several works inspired by the city during his lifetime, specialists note this piece holds a distinct place in his catalog.

“However, this is the only painting by the artist of Rome as it looked during his time. Every other painting he did of Rome was an evocation of a bygone age. But this is the only portrait of the city. In many ways, it’s his great love letter to the city that inspired him throughout his life.”

Julian Gascoigne, senior specialist at Sotheby’s London

The painting was initially displayed at the Royal Academy to mixed reviews in 1836. As the canvas prepares for its December auction, Mario Tavella, the chair of Sotheby’s Europe, stated his hope that a public museum will ultimately acquire the work where it could be admired by everyone.

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