Forum Romanum is an 1826 cityscape painting by the British artist J.M.W. Turner depicting the Roman Forum in the Italian capital of Rome. Painted during the Regency era it features surviving buildings from Ancient Rome seen in the afternoon light. It looks towards the Capitoline Hill with the Arch of Titus on the left and the Basilica of Constantine on the right.[1]
| Forum Romanum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | J. M. W. Turner |
| Year | 1826 |
| Type | Oil on canvas, cityscape |
| Dimensions | 145.7 cm × 163.3 cm (57.4 in × 64.3 in) |
| Location | Tate Britain, London |
The work was commissioned by the architect John Soane for his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields. In the event the painting Turner produced was too large for the space that Soane had set aside in his cramped, already overfilled house. Nonetheless he generously sent Turner a cheque for the agreed five hundred guineas. Turner returned the cheque and kept the painting. Art historian Anthony Bailey wrote "If Soane had been sensible, he would have cleared out some of the clutter in his house in order to hang a glowing masterpiece".[2]
When it was publicly displayed at the Royal Academy's 1826 Summer Exhibition at Somerset House reviewers criticised the overuse of yellow paint in the composition. This was part of a trend in Turner's paintings of the era which was dubbed his "yellow fever" by one critic. [3] Today it is in the collection of the Tate Britain in Pimlico, having been acquired as part of the Turner Bequest in 1856.[4]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ Shane p.176
- ^ Bailey p.374-75
- ^ Bailey p.475-76
- ^ https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-forum-romanum-for-mr-soanes-museum-n00504
Bibliography
edit- Bailey, Anthony. J.M.W. Turner: Standing in the Sun. Tate Enterprises Ltd, 2013.
- Costello, Leo. J.M.W. Turner and the Subject of History. Taylor and Francis, 2017.
- Shanes, Eric. The Life and Masterworks of J.M.W. Turner. Parkstone International, 2012.
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