Oil paint on canvas
Tate Britain
Italy
Tate Collection
Works with images
Works on display
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
Collection
Turner owned by Tate
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/joseph-mallord-william-turner-558" aria-label="More by Joseph Mallord William Turner" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Joseph Mallord William Turner</a>
Undine Giving Ring to Massaniello Fisherman Naples
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
adults
aura
cities, towns, villages (non-UK)
countries and continents
Fouqué, Friedrich, Baron de la Motte, ‘Undine’
Italy
literature (not Shakespeare)
literature and fiction
magic and occultism
man
mysticism
Naples - non-specific
people
places
religion and belief
sea
seascapes and coasts
transfiguration
water sprite
woman
<p>In this painting, Turner illustrates a scene from ‘Undine’, a fairy tale by German writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, published in 1811. Undine, a water spirit, was born without a soul, but she can gain one by marrying Huldebrand, a knight. The otherworldly light and dreamlike figures reflect the nature of the story. It was very popular throughout the 19th century and inspired many writers, including Hans Christian Andersen.</p><p><em>Gallery label, July 2020</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
13 August 2001 – 23 June 2002
2002-06-23
13 August 2001 – 23 June 2002
2002-06-23
2001-08-13
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2001-08-13
Painting Landscape and History
Collection based display
8 July 2002 – 1 October 2003
2003-10-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-08
William Blake Body and Soul
Collection based display
8 July 2002 – 16 March 2003
2003-03-16
8 July 2002 – 16 March 2003
2003-03-16
2002-07-08
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-08
Body and Soul
Collection based display
9 June 2003 – 10 May 2004
2004-05-10
9 June 2003 – 8 September 2003
2003-09-08
2003-06-09
Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute (Williamstown, USA)
http://www.clarkart.edu/
24 October 2003 – 3 January 2004
2004-01-03
2003-10-24
Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester, UK)
http://www.manchestergalleries.org
15 February 2004 – 10 May 2004
2004-05-10
2004-02-15
Burrell Collection (Glasgow, UK)
2003-06-09
Turner: The Late Seascapes
Loan-out
16 November 2008 – 7 June 2009
2009-06-07
23 November 2008 – 22 February 2009
2009-02-22
2008-11-23
Palazzo dei Diamanti (Ferrara, Italy)
23 March 2009 – 7 June 2009
2009-06-07
2009-03-23
National Galleries of Scotland (Edinburgh, UK)
15 July 2009 – 25 October 2009
2009-10-25
2009-07-15
Szépmüvészeti Múzeum (Budapest, Hungary)
http://www.szepmuveszeti.hu/
2008-11-16
Turner and Italy
Loan-out
30 July 2010 – 15 April 2012
2012-04-15
30 July 2010 – 15 April 2012
2012-04-15
2010-07-30
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2010-07-30
Romantics
Collection based display
10 September 2014 – 20 September 2015
2015-09-20
10 September 2014 – 25 January 2015
2015-01-25
2014-09-10
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
24 February 2015 – 24 May 2015
2015-05-24
2015-02-24
J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA)
20 June 2015 – 20 September 2015
2015-09-20
2015-06-20
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum (San Francisco, USA)
http://www.famsf.org
2014-09-10
Late Turner: Painting Set Free
Exhibition
24 February 2015 – 31 January 2016
2016-01-31
24 February 2015 – 24 May 2015
2015-05-24
2015-02-24
J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles, USA)
20 June 2015 – 20 September 2015
2015-09-20
2015-06-20
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, de Young Museum
31 October 2015 – 31 January 2016
2016-01-31
2015-10-31
Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto, Canada)
http://www.ago.net
2015-02-24
Late Turner
Loan-out
1 August 2016 – 1 March 2020
2020-03-01
1 August 2016 – 1 March 2020
2020-03-01
2016-08-01
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2016-08-01
Clore 104 Turner exhibited
Collection based display
6 April 2020 – 27 November 2022
2022-11-27
6 April 2020
2020-04-06
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2020-04-06
Clore 104
Collection based display
13 March 2023
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2023-03-13
Gallery 104
Collection based display
Undine Giving the Ring to Massaniello, Fisherman of Naples
support: 791 × 791 mm
frame: 1025 × 1025 × 123 mm
Accepted by the nation as part of the <a href="/search?gid=999999781" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">Turner Bequest</a> 1856
<div class="text">
<p>In this painting, Turner illustrates a scene from ‘Undine’, a fairy tale by German writer Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué, published in 1811. Undine, a water spirit, was born without a soul, but she can gain one by marrying Huldebrand, a knight. The otherworldly light and dreamlike figures reflect the nature of the story. It was very popular throughout the 19th century and inspired many writers, including Hans Christian Andersen.</p>
</div>

Display caption
2020-07-01T00:00:00
display-caption
DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>424. </b>[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-undine-giving-the-ring-to-massaniello-fisherman-of-naples-n00549" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00549</span></a>]<b> Undine giving the Ring to Massaniello, Fisherman of Naples</b> Exh. 1846</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (549)</p>
<p>Canvas, 31 1/8 × 31 1/8 (79 × 79)</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (44, ‘Masaniello’ 2'6 5/8" × 2'6 5/8"); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1905.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> R.A. 1846 (384); Edinburgh 1968 (16).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Ruskin 1857 (1903–12, xiii, p. 167); Thornbury 1862, i, p. 349; ii, p. 196; 1877, pp. 399, 467; W.P. Frith, <i>My Autobiography and Reminiscences</i>, 1887, i, pp. 131–3; Bell 1901, p. 155 no. 258; Armstrong 1902, p. 234; MacColl 1920, p. 25; Davies 1946, p. 186; Clare 1951, p. 117; Finberg 1961, pp. 413, 510 no. 576; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, p. 72; Gage 1969, pp. 194, 259–60 n. 83; Reynolds 1969, pp. 198–200, pl. 173; Stuckey 1976, pp. 155–75, pl. 1; Finley 1979, pp. 685–95, pl. 9 and colour detail on cover; Wallace 1979, pp. 114–15, pl. 16; Wilton 1979, pp. 165, 198–203, 216, 222, pl. 236.</p>
<p>Almost certainly painted as the companion to <i>The Angel standing in the Sun</i> (No. 425, <i>q.v</i>.[<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-the-angel-standing-in-the-sun-n00550" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00550</span></a>]); the colours are complementary. <i>Undine</i> had no accompanying text in the R.A. catalogue, unless, as has been suggested, the second of the two texts given for the other work, that from Samuel Rogers' <i>Voyage of Columbus</i>, should in fact have applied to this one. The sources of the subject were probably two stage productions that Turner could have seen in London, Auber's opera <i>La Muette de Portici</i> which ran from 1829 to 1835 and had been revived in 1845 (Deshayes's ballet version of this, <i>Masaniello</i>, had run from 1829 to 1834 and had been revived in 1838), and Jules Perrot's ballet <i>Ondine</i>, which ran from 1843 to 1848. In the latter Ondine entices the revolutionary fisherman Matteo into the sea.</p>
<p>Charles Stuckey, accepting that the companion picture in some way reflects Ruskin's identification of Turner as the angel of Revelation (see No. 425 [<span>N00550</span>]), suggests that Turner's choice of Undine and Masaniello as a subject, and indeed the pairing of the two pictures, in part embodies an attack on the Reverend John Eagles, one of Turner's sharpest critics; in <i>Blackwood's Magazine</i> for October 1843 Eagles had in fact attacked Ruskin's identification of Turner as the angel. Eagles had referred to Undine in the course of earlier criticisms of Turner and had also, in 1835, singled out Francis Danby's sketch of ‘the Fisherman of the Arabian Tales’ for special praise. Eagles frequently praised Danby at Turner's expense, though in fact he was one of the few younger artists by whom Turner was impressed (see No. 420 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-queen-mabs-cave-n00548" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00548</span></a>]). Masaniello may have been chosen because of his rumoured friendship with the poet-painter Salvator Rosa; Maclise had exhibited <i>Salvator <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> his friend Masaniello</i> in 1838. In addition, Masaniello's real name being Tomasso Aniello, Turner may have been playing with the association of his own name with ‘ring’, of which ‘aniello’ is the Italian translation. Finley suggests that there is also an allusion to Louis-Philippe, the object of a number of assassination attempts, the most recent on 16 April 1846. Wallace sees a parallel between Masaniello and Christ, and the painting as a reflection of Turner's pessimism over the possibility of Christian salvation, also found, for Wallace, in the companion painting.</p>
<p>While some of the critics coupled the two pictures together (see under No. 425 [<span>N00550</span>]) others did not. The <i>Art Union</i> for June 1846 supports the identification of the sources of the subjects suggested above: ‘On seeing the picture and the first word of the title we thought that this gentleman had worthily betaken himself to the charming romance of De la Motte Fouque; but Hulbrand's “wife and water” has nothing to do with Massaniello [<i>sic</i>]. We must, therefore, be content to refer the picture to some ignoble ballet’. The review concludes, ‘In the picture of Undine we see a <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/composition" title="Glossary definition for 'Composition'"><span>composition</span></a> intended by its author only for a momentary sight’; whoever thinks it is ‘to be dwelt upon falls into that vulgar error which leads to general condemnation’ of Turner's works. The <i>Almanack of the Month</i>, in a review accompanied by a sketch apparently done from memory, put it rather differently: ‘“Undine”... is a very fair specimen of this slap-dash school [already <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/c/caricature" title="Glossary definition for 'Caricature'"><span>caricatured</span></a> <i>apropos “Hurrah! for the Whaler Erebus”</i>, see No. 423 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-hurrah-for-the-whaler-erebus-another-fish-n00546" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00546</span></a>]], which we admire for its extreme boldness. The audacity of the thing is truly wonderful. We know the Doge of Venice used to marry the Adriatic, and throw a ring into it, but we were not aware that one of these rings had been picked up by Undine, and given to Masaniello.’ <i>The Times</i> for 6 May did ‘not expect that any but the ultra-Turnerites will admire’ this picture, which it described as ‘remarkable for that favourite white light of Turner's ...in vivid contrast to the dark blue sky, with its mass of red flame (probably Vesuvius).’</p>
<p>The painter W.P. Frith has an anecdote about one of Turner's typical run-ins with a neighbouring picture at the Royal <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/a/academy" title="Glossary definition for 'Academy'"><span>Academy</span></a>, in this case by his friend David Roberts. ‘When first placed on the wall, Masaniello's queer figure was relieved by a pale gray sky, the whole effect being almost as gray and quiet as Roberts's picture ... Both he and Roberts stood upon boxes, and worked silently at their respective pictures... “Masaniello” was rapidly undergoing a treatment which was very damaging to its neighbour without a compensating improvement to itself. The gray sky had become an intense blue, and was every instant becoming so blue that even Italy could scarcely be credited with it.’ Despite Roberts's remonstrances, ‘to this hour “Masaniello” remains...with the bluest sky ever seen in a picture, and never seen out of one’.</p>
<p>Turner seems to have been much more undecided on the final shape he wanted for this picture and No. 425 [<span>N00550</span>] than he had been in similar cases in earlier years (see Nos. 382 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-bacchus-and-ariadne-n00525" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00525</span></a>], 394–5, 399–400 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-peace-burial-at-sea-n00528" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00528</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-war-the-exile-and-the-rock-limpet-n00529" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00529</span></a>] and 404–5 [<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-shade-and-darkness-the-evening-of-the-deluge-n00531" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00531</span></a>-<a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-light-and-colour-goethes-theory-the-morning-after-the-deluge-moses-writing-the-book-n00532" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00532</span></a>]). The top-left corner of <i>Undine</i> seems to have been finished off with an octagonal format in mind but at the last minute he added a fish in the bottom right-hand corner, necessitating a square frame. Similarly at the last moment he added a flask in the bottom right-hand corner of No. 425 [<span>N00550</span>], though the composition as a whole seems to have been envisaged as a circular one.</p>
<p><b>Published in:</b>
<br/>Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, <i>The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner</i>, revised ed., New Haven and London 1984
<br/></p>

Catalogue entry
2004-09-23T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults aura cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents Fouqué, Friedrich, Baron de la Motte, ‘Undine’ Italy literature and fiction literature (not Shakespeare) magic and occultism man mysticism Naples - non-specific people places religion and belief sea seascapes and coasts transfiguration water sprite woman