William Turner, Veduta di Orvieto (Detail), 1828, London, Tate Britain. © London, Tate 2007

FERRARA, ITALY.- This major exhibition at Palazzo dei Diamanti celebrates the love affair between the artist J. M.W. Turner (1775-1851) and Italy. Turner and Italy sets out to explore this complex and enduring relationship, and show how Turner became enchanted by the country’s climate, landscapes and architecture; drawing inspiration from them he created some of the greatest images of Romantic art.

The exhibition includes over 100 works, including oil paintings, watercolours, sketchbooks, and books from Turner’s library which illustrate his fascination with Italy. Spectacular loans from collections in Washington, Philadelphia, Melbourne, Paris and London will feature in the exhibition. It has been created by the National Gallery of Scotland and will travel on an international tour to Hungary.

Turner travelled to Italy seven times, and past exhibitions have considered particular aspects of his Italian work, such as his love of Venice, but this is the first to provide a comprehensive overview and consider the impact it had on his British art. Turner and Italy is the most ambitions Turner exhibition ever shown in Italy, and provides an inspiring introduction to his achievement, through what are arguably the artist’s most admired works.

Highlights include the artist’s great Rome from the Vatican (Tate Britain) of 1819, a glowing panorama of the city, which shows Raphael painting in the foreground, and late masterpieces, such as his 1844 Approach to Venice (National Gallery of Art, Washington), which the critic John Ruskin considered ‘…the most perfectly beautiful piece of colour of all that I have seen produced by human hands, by any means, or at any period.’

Turner’s journeys to Italy were made at a time when such travels could take many weeks. The onslaught of mass tourism had not yet begun, and he not only delighted in, but also exploited all he experienced. As an astute businessman as well as ingenious artist, Turner used Italy to inspire the two most successful aspects of his career in Britain: the creation of ambitious oil paintings which were exhibited annually to a startled public, and the production of watercolours that were engraved for publication, so spreading his vision far beyond his immediate audience.

Because Turner’s enthusiasm for Italy was sustained throughout his career it illustrates all the distinct stages in the stylistic evolution of his work, and the transition he made from early, conventional topographical studies, to the highly charged, emotive, and visionary pictures of his later years. Together the have created a deeply romantic, potent view of Italy which has remained popular ever since.

William Turner, Sacra famiglia, 1803, London, Tate Britain. © London, Tate 2007.

William Turner, Roma. Il Tevere con l'Aventino sulla sinistra, 1794-97. Acquerello e gessetto su carta, mm 275 x 485. Edimburgo, National Gallery of Scotland

William Turner, Castello di Dolbadern, 1800. Olio su tela, cm 119,4 x 90,2. Londra, Royal Academy of Arts

William Turner, Passo del San Gottardo dal centro del ponte del Diavolo, 1804 . Acquerello e raschiature su carta, mm 1010 x 680. Kendal, Abbot Hall Art Gallery

William Turner, Bonneville, Savoia, c. 1812. Olio su tela, cm 92,9 x 123,8. Philadelphia Museum of Art, John G. Johnson Collection, 1917

Claude Lorrain, Paesaggio con Apollo e le Muse, 1652. Olio su tela, cm 186 x 290. Edimburgo, National Gallery of Scotland

William Turner, Ponte con capre, c.1806-07. Acquaforte, acquatinta e mezzatinta, prova d'artista, mm 183 x 252. Londra, Royal Academy of Arts

William Turner, Apullia in cerca di Appulo, 1811-19 (?) . Acquaforte e mezzatinta, mm 186 x 266. Londra, Royal Academy of Arts

William Turner, Il lago d'Averno. Enea e la Sibilla Cumana, c. 1814-15. Olio su tela, cm 71,8 x 97,2. New Haven, Yale Center for British Art,
Paul Mellon Collection

William Turner, Napoli. Castel dell'Ovo con Sorrento e Capri in lontananza, mattina presto, 1819. Acquerello su carta, mm 257 x 404. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, L'acquedotto Claudio, 1819. Acquerello e matita su carta, mm 229 x 369. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Roma vista dal Vaticano, 1820. Olio su tela, cm 177 x 335,5. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Virginia Water, c. 1829. Acquerello su carta, mm 290 x 443. Collezione privata, in prestito presso la National Gallery of Scotland, Edimburgo

William Turner, Italia. Castello in Valle d'Aosta, c. 1838. Acquerello, matita, inchiostro e gessetto su carta, mm 138 x 188. Collezione Regione autonoma Valle d'Aosta

William Turner, Veduta di Orvieto, 1828-30. Olio su tela, cm 91,4 x 123,2. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

IWilliam Turner, l ramo d'oro, 1834. Olio su tela, cm 104,1 x 163,8. Londra, Tate. Dono di Robert Vernon, 1847

William Turner, Roma vista dall'Aventino, 1836. Olio su tela, cm 91,6 x 124,6. Il conte di Rosebery, in prestito presso la National Gallery of Scotland, Edimburgo

William Turner, Roma moderna. Campo Vaccino, esposto nel 1839. Olio su tela, cm 90,2 x 122. Il conte di Rosebery, in prestito presso la National Gallery of Scotland, Edimburgo

William Turner, Venezia. La Piazzetta con il doge che celebra la cerimonia dello sposalizio del mare, c. 1835. Olio su tela, cm 91,4 x 121,9. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell’artista, 1856

William Turner, Venezia. Stanza da letto di Turner a palazzo Giustinian (albergo Europa), c. 1840. Acquerello e gouache su carta, mm 230 x 302. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Tra i comignoli di Venezia. Il tetto dell'albergo Europa con il campanile di San Marco, 1840. Gouache, matita e acquerello su carta, mm 245 x 306. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Imbarcazioni sul Bacino, con l'ingresso del Canal Grande, 1840. Acquerello su carta, mm 221 x 321. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Santa Maria della Salute con il traghetto San Maurizio, 1840. Matita e acquerello su carta, mm 245 x 304. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Roma. L'arco di Costantino, c. 1835. Olio su tela, cm 91,4 x 121,9. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Pescatrici napoletane sorprese mentre fanno il bagno al chiaro di luna, 1840. Olio su tela, cm 65,7 x 81. San Marino (CA), The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens

William Turner, Arrivo a Venezia, 1844. Olio su tela, cm 62 x 94. Washington, National Gallery of Art, Andrew W. Mellon Collection, 1937

William Turner, Venezia con la Salute, c. 1840-45. Olio su tela, cm 62,2 x 92,7. Londra, Tate. Lascito dell'artista, 1856

William Turner, Paesaggio con fiume e una baia in lontananza, 1840-50. Olio su tela, cm 93 x 123. Parigi, Musée du Louvre

William Turner, Scena di montagna. Valle d'Aosta, c. 1845. Olio su tela, cm 91,5 x 122. Melbourne, National Gallery of Victoria