ARTCESTRYTurner's Rome painting is up for auction on 9 December
Turner's Rome, from Mount Aventine goes on sale in London on 9 December. The house's headline puts its value at £50 million.
Why it matters
Readers can trace this painting's owners and prices across nearly 150 years. The record runs from an 1878 sale to a 2026 estimate.
A Turner view of Rome sold for 5,850 guineas in 1878. On 9 December it goes to auction in London. The house's headline now gives it a value of £50 million.
The painting is Rome, from Mount Aventine, by Joseph Mallord William Turner. Its price story needs care, because the figures differ by source. A wire report in the Irish Examiner gives an estimate of about €50 million, or £42.7 million. The lot page lists the estimate (the price range the house expects a work to sell for) as Upon Request.
The sale is titled Old Master & 19th Century Paintings Evening Auction.
The context
Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar commissioned the oil painting. It is unlined (without a second canvas glued to the back), and measures 92.7 by 125.7 centimetres. Turner showed it at the Royal Academy in London in 1836.
In 1878, a buyer acting for the 5th Earl of Rosebery and his wife, Hannah Rothschild, paid 5,850 guineas at Christie's. Rosebery later served as prime minister. From 1978 to 2013, the work was on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Scotland.
Sotheby's sold it in London on 3 December 2014. The price was £35.8 million, a Turner record at that time, the wire report says.
A trip back to Rome
The painting went on show at Palazzo Rondinini in Rome for three days before the sale. Turner based it on sketches from an 1828 visit to the city. It probably began in Rome and was finished in London for the Royal Academy.
Julian Gascoigne, a senior specialist in British paintings at Sotheby's, said the work is in exceptional condition. He said Turner put oil paint on as if it were watercolour, in thin, glassy layers. Mario Tavella, chairman of Sotheby's Europe, said the estimate reflects rarity, provenance and condition.
The house issued its press note on 29 September 2026.
Our view
We think this sale is easier to follow with the lot page and the wire report side by side. Check the final catalogue before you quote a price. The headline, the wire report and the lot page do not match.
I would need a very large wall, and a rather larger bank balance.
What do you think?
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