Oil paint on canvas
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Joseph Mallord William Turner
Turner Bequest
Oil paintings
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<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>
Rome Vatican Raffaelle Accompanied by La Fornarina Preparing his Pictures Decoration Loggia
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
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Raphael
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<p>Turner revelled in the history, architecture and light of Rome. On his return, he painted this sweeping view from the Vatican. It was Turner’s tribute to Italian Renaissance painter and architect Raphael, which he exhibited on the 300th anniversary of his death. Raphael stands in the foreground with his companion La Fornarina. He gazes at the overhead vaults of the Loggia, painted by him and his students. The drawings and paintings in the centre foreground represent the breadth of Raphael’s talent.</p><p><em>Gallery label, October 2023</em></p>
painting oil paint canvas
8 July 2002 – 21 May 2007
2007-05-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2002-07-08
Turner and Tourism in Europe
Collection based display
5 March 2003 – 29 June 2003
2003-06-29
5 March 2003 – 29 June 2003
2003-06-29
2003-03-05
Scuderie del Quirinale (Rome, Italy)
2003-03-05
Classical and Christain Myth/Rome, Capital of Arts
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
21 September 2009 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
21 September 2009 – 24 January 2010
2010-01-24
2009-09-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
22 February 2010 – 23 May 2010
2010-05-23
2010-02-22
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
21 June 2010 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
2010-06-21
Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid, Spain)
2009-09-21
Turner and the Masters
Exhibition
22 February 2010 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
21 September 2009 – 3 January 2010
2010-01-03
2009-09-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
22 February 2010 – 23 May 2010
2010-05-23
2010-02-22
Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais (Paris, France)
21 June 2010 – 19 September 2010
2010-09-19
2010-06-21
Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid, Spain)
2010-02-22
Turner and the Masters
Loan-out
21 April 2012 – 1 March 2020
2020-03-01
21 April 2012 – 1 March 2020
2020-03-01
2012-04-21
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2012-04-21
Turner Exhibited
Collection based display
8 February 2013 – 13 April 2014
2014-04-13
8 February 2013 – 19 May 2013
2013-05-19
2013-02-08
Art Gallery of South Australia (Adelaide, Australia)
http://www.artgallery.sa.gov.au
4 June 2013 – 8 September 2013
2013-09-08
2013-06-04
National Gallery of Australia (Canberra, Australia)
8 October 2013 – 18 December 2013
2013-12-18
2013-10-08
Toyko Metropolitan Art Museum (Toyko, Japan)
1 January 2014 – 13 April 2014
2014-04-13
2014-01-01
Kobe City Museum (Kobe, Japan)
2013-02-08
J.M.W. Turner: Makings of a Master
Loan-out
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 107
Collection based display
13 March 2023
Tate Britain (London, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/
2023-03-13
Gallery 107
Collection based display
Rome, from the Vatican. Raffaelle, Accompanied by La Fornarina, Preparing his Pictures for the Decoration of the Loggia
support: 1772 × 3353 mm
frame: 2275 × 3843 × 167 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>Turner revelled in the history, architecture and light of Rome. On his return, he painted this sweeping view from the Vatican. It was Turner’s tribute to Italian Renaissance painter and architect Raphael, which he exhibited on the 300th anniversary of his death. Raphael stands in the foreground with his companion La Fornarina. He gazes at the overhead vaults of the Loggia, painted by him and his students. The drawings and paintings in the centre foreground represent the breadth of Raphael’s talent.</p>
</div>

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2023-10-25T00:00:00
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DISPLAY_CAPTION
<p><b>228. </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-rome-from-the-vatican-raffaelle-accompanied-by-la-fornarina-preparing-his-pictures-n00503" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>N00503</span></a>]<b> Rome, from the Vatican. Raffaelle, accompanied by La Fornarina, preparing his Pictures for the Decoration of the Loggia</b> Exh. 1820</p>
<p>THE TATE GALLERY, LONDON (503)</p>
<p>Canvas, 69 3/4 × 132 (177 × 335·5)</p>
<p>Inscr. ‘Pianta del Vaticano’ on plan, and ‘Casa di Raffaello’ on painting, lower centre.</p>
<p><b>Coll.</b> Turner Bequest 1856 (50, ‘Rome’ 11'0" × 5'11"); transferred to the Tate Gallery 1920.</p>
<p><b>Exh.</b> R.A. 1820 (206); R.A. 1974–5 (236, repr.).</p>
<p><b>Lit.</b> Ruskin 1857 (1903–12, xiii, pp. 127–8); Thornbury 1862, i, p. 303; 1877, p. 437; Hamerton 1879, pp. 170–72; Bell 1901, p. 103 no. 144; Armstrong 1902, p. 228; Whitley 1928, p. 317; Davies 1946, p. 186; Clare 1951, pp. 66–7; Finberg 1961, pp. 264–5, 482 no. 252; Herrmann 1963, p. 23; Rothenstein and Butlin 1964, p. 36, pl. 62; Ziff 1965, p. 56, pl. 4; Lindsay 1966, p. 158; Gage 1969, pp. 92–5, 265 n. 158; Reynolds 1969, p. 114, pl. 94; Gaunt 1971, p. 7; Ziff 1971, p. 126; Raymond Lister (ed.), <i>The Letters of Samuel Palmer</i> 1974, ii, p. 897; Herrmann 1975, pp. 29, 231, pl. 84; Mordechai Omer, ‘Turner and “The Building of the Ark” from Raphael's Third Vault of the Loggia’, <i>Burlington Magazine</i> cxvii 1975, pp. 694–8, figs. 2 and, detail, 3; Paulson 1978, p. 184 n. 34; Wallace 1979, pp. 109–10, 113, pls. 4 and, detail, 5; Wilton 1979, pp. 145–7, 149–50, 204–5, 222, pl. 161; Ziff 1980, p. 169; Kitson 1983, p. 12.</p>
<p>This picture, exhibited on the three-hundredth anniversary of Raphael's death, sums up Turner's reactions to his first visit to Rome and to the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/renaissance" title="Glossary definition for 'Renaissance'"><span>Renaissance</span></a> artist particularly associated with that city, shown with his mistress, La Fornarina. In addition, as John Gage has shown, the <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> is more specifically autobiographical, with Turner identifying himself with the universal artist of the Italian Renaissance. When visiting the Louvre in 1802 Turner had copied Raphael's <i>Small Holy Family</i> (‘Studies in the Louvre’ sketchbook, LXXII-17) but Raphael was relatively little valued at this time. By 1820, however, there was a growing appreciation of Raphael as a colourist as well as a draughtsman; Turner himself noted in the ‘Route to Rome’ sketchbook that the frescoes in the Villa Farnesina were ‘Exquisite colored’ (CLXXI-14 <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/recto-verso" title="Glossary definition for 'Recto / Verso'"><span>verso</span></a>). Raphael was also increasingly appreciated as a painter of <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a>, hence the inclusion of the surprisingly Claudian landscape in the foreground. Gage suggests that Turner deliberately included inaccurate and anachronistic details to stress the autobiographical character of the picture. Raphael's great decorative schemes, painted in <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/f/fresco" title="Glossary definition for 'Fresco'"><span>fresco</span></a> direct on the wall, are represented by an easel painting on <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/canvas" title="Glossary definition for 'Canvas'"><span>canvas</span></a> of one of the Loggie subjects. Bernini's colonnades in front of St Peter's, not built until the seventeenth century, are included to represent Turner's ambitions as an architect, fulfilled to some extent by his designs for his own gallery in Queen Anne Street, which he was rebuilding at this time, and for his cottage near Twickenham. <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/s/sculpture" title="Glossary definition for 'Sculpture'"><span>Sculpture</span></a> is also included.</p>
<p>In the ‘Tivoli and Rome’ sketchbook of 1819 there are a number of sketches of the Loggie, including one general view as they appear in the finished picture as well as several detailed studies, two general <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> sketches that were considerably modified, and 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/d/drawing" title="Glossary definition for 'Drawing'"><span>drawing</span></a> of the distant snow-capped Apennines (CLXXIX-13 verso, 14–21 verso, 25 verso and 26 (repr. Wilkinson 1974, p. 188) and 25 respectively.). There is a finished drawing in <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/pen-and-ink" title="Glossary definition for 'Pen and Ink'"><span>pen and ink</span></a>, finished in Chinese white, in the ‘Rome: C[olour] Studies’ sketchbook (CLXXXIX-41).</p>
<p>Although Finberg quotes two unfavourable reviews the reception of the picture was not entirely negative. Two unidentified cuttings at the Victoria and Albert Museum speak of ‘a grand view of Rome’ and of it ‘possessing all the magical effects, the clear and natural atmosphere, and the glorious lights which give such a beauty and a charm to all his compositions’ (vol. v, p. 1217, and vol. iv, p. 1178). The <i>British Press</i> for 2 May 1820 described the painting as ‘an exquisite composition. The <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/perspective" title="Glossary definition for 'Perspective'"><span>perspective</span></a> and colouring are beautiful, and the architectural ruins [<i>sic</i>] which burst upon the eye, give a sentiment and grandeur to the subject which cannot fail to excite great interest’. The <i>Repository of Art</i> for June described it as ‘a strange but wonderful picture’, criticising ‘the crossing and recrossing of reflected lights about the gallery’, the figures and ‘the perspective of the fore-ground’, but praising the distance and the ‘richness and splendour of the colouring’. The <i>Annals of the Fine Arts</i> (v, p. 395) said that ‘Turner has not gone back, he only stands where he did’, praised the ‘grandeur of conception’, but attacked the ‘excessive yellowness, which puts everything out of tune that hangs by it’.</p>
<p>Samuel Palmer, in a letter to George Richmond of 1 June 1874, commented on the condition of the picture at that time: ‘Where is the <i>essence</i> of Rome in Turner's Loggie with La Fornarina—utterly ruined through sparing a few pounds-worth of glass?’</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
2004-09-22T00:00:00
catalogue-entry
CATALOGUE_ENTRY
adults arcade architecture art and craft artist, painter arts and entertainment balcony cities, towns, villages (non-UK) countries and continents features fine art and design, named works fine arts and music High Renaissance - Raphael Italy leisure and pastimes man named individuals objects painting painting people places Raphael Raphael, painting, ‘Madonna della Sedia’ Rome, St Peter’s Square Rome, Vatican society square stonework symbols and personifications townscape townscapes / man-made features woman work and occupations