A Turner masterpiece back in the city that inspired it
Nearly 200 years after it was painted, a celebrated work by the British landscape painter JMW Turner is back in the Italian capital, the place that served as its inspiration. Called Rome, from Mount Aventine, it presents a sweeping panorama of the city and can be seen at the Palazzo Rondinini for a limited run of three days. The 19th-century piece grew out of sketches Turner drew while in Rome, and it has now returned there for a short public exhibition.[S1]
The canvas has survived in exceptionally fine shape and is thought to have escaped any restoration work. Looking closely, one can make out lingering fingerprints and brush hairs still present on its surface. It has come up for auction just once previously, fetching over £30 million. Sotheby's anticipates a figure in the region of £50 million when it is sold in London this December. Sarah Rainsford, the BBC's Southern and Eastern Europe correspondent, viewed the painting at close range in Rome.[S1]
