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Rome from Monte Mario
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Rome from Monte Mario 1820
This watercolour was made after his first visit to Rome, between August 1819 and February 1820. Turner was delighted and overwhelmed by the trip: the ancient remains, the abundance of Renaissance and Baroque buildings, and the splendour of the city?s setting fired his imagination. This work was created as part of a set of Italian scenes for his friend and patron Walter Fawkes (1769-1825). The view Turner chose is highly ambitious. He depicted the city at sunset, looking in a south-easterly direction from just below the top of Monte Mario. On the right is the dome of St Peter?s; just to the right of the centre of the composition is the Castel Sant? Angelo, and further to the left the Campidoglio. An idyllic image of a boy playing pipes to a demure girl in the forefront completes the scene.

Glossary Open

Baroque

A general term for European art and architecture from the 17th to the mid 18th centuries. It particularly refers to works characterised by a sense of movement and theatricality.

Composition

The arrangement of different elements in a work of art.

Patronage

The support given to artists by an individual or organisation, usually through buying or funding their work.

Renaissance

A period in European culture from the 14th to the 16th centuries in which the visual arts flourished with advances in the treatment of anatomy and the use of perspective. It is particularly associated with Italy, where it began, though the term applies elsewhere. It is noted for a revival of interest in the cultures of ancient Greece and Rome.

Watercolour

A paint with colouring and binding agents diluted with water. It has a transparent quality and is usually applied to paper.

Baroque, Composition, Patronage , Renaissance, Watercolour

Details

  • Acc. No. D 5638
  • Medium Watercolour and scraping out on paper
  • Size 29.80 x 41.50 cm
  • Credit Accepted by H.M. Government in Lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the National Galleries of Scotland, 2011

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