Sotheby’s placed J.M.W. Turner’s Rome, from Mount Aventine on view at Palazzo Rondinini in Rome beginning September 29, marking the first exhibition of the work in the city it portrays nearly two centuries after its creation. The 1836 landscape carries an estimate of around £50 million for the Old Masters and 19th-century evening sale at Sotheby’s London on December 9, a figure that would surpass the £30.3 million the same canvas achieved at the auction house in 2014. According to Sotheby’s senior specialist Julian Gascoigne, few late Turner oils remain in private collections, making the consignment a rare opportunity for buyers.
The painting presents a view from the Aventine Hill featuring an umbrella pine in the foreground, the winding Tiber River and the city extending into the distance under soft golden light. It incorporates landmarks such as the Ponte Emilio, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. Sotheby’s assessment found that Turner based the composition on sketches from his 1828-29 visit to Rome and may have begun work on the canvas in Italy before completing it in London, where it debuted at the Royal Academy in 1836.
Gascoigne described the canvas as the artist’s great love letter to Rome, telling reporters in the Italian capital that it stands as the only Turner painting of the city as it appeared during his lifetime rather than an evocation of antiquity. The work survives on its original canvas and in its original frame, never relined or restored, with the auction house noting that the artist’s fingerprints, palette knife marks and trapped brush hairs remain visible. A Sotheby’s statement distributed ahead of the exhibition said the surface is extraordinarily well preserved as a result.
The three-day display through October 1 at the 18th-century baroque Palazzo Rondinini constitutes the most valuable artwork Sotheby’s has exhibited in Italy, the auction house reported. Following the Rome viewing the painting will travel to Sotheby’s galleries in Hong Kong and New York to reach international collectors before returning to London. Sotheby’s data places significant Asian and American interest in Turner, with major works by the artist appearing infrequently on the open market.
Lorenzo Rebecchini, CEO of Sotheby’s Italy, stated that the company expects bids of around £50 million but hopes for even higher sums given the painting’s exceptional state of preservation and historical importance. The 2014 purchaser was a private collector who acquired the work from descendants of the Rosebery family, which had owned it since 1878, according to Sotheby’s records. A second Roman view by Turner from the same historic collection, Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino, sold for £29.7 million at Sotheby’s in 2010 and now belongs to the J. Paul Getty Museum.
