Watercolor, gum, and scraping out on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 1/4 x 15 5/8 inches (28.6 x 39.7 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:
Inscribed on verso in graphite, center: "<37> | Mount Vesuvius in Eruption | J M W Turner R.a 1817"
Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1975.4.1857
Classification:
Drawings & Watercolors
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
landscape | boats | science | lava | geology | mountain | volcano | smoke | Grand Tour
Associated Places:
Europe | Italy | Napoli | Vesuvius | Campania
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)Eruptions: Pompeii and Santorini (Scuderie del Quirinale, 2019-10-05 - 2020-01-19)The Critique of Reason : Romantic Art, 1760–1860 (Yale University Art Gallery, 2015-03-06 - 2015-07-26)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)An American's Passion for British Art - Paul Mellon's Legacy (Royal Academy of Arts, 2007-10-20 - 2008-01-27)Paul Mellon's Legacy : A Passion for British Art (Yale Center for British Art, 2007-04-18 - 2007-07-29)Turner and the Sublime (Yale Center for British Art, 1981-02-11 - 1981-04-19)Turner and the Sublime (British Museum, 1981-05-15 - 1981-09-20)Turner and the Sublime (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1980-11-01 - 1981-01-04)Visions of Vesuvius (Museum of Fine Arts Boston, 1978-04-14 - 1978-07-16)English Landscape (Paul Mellon Collection) 1630-1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 1977-04-19 - 1977-07-17)
Publications:
Art, Lux, et Veritas 2012 : personal responses to collections at Yale, , Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 2012, pp. 38-41, V 2414:2John Baskett, Paul Mellon's Legacy: a Passion for British Art: Masterpieces from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, p. 284, no. 89, pl. 89, N5220 M552 P38 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Martin Butlin, The paintings of J.M.W. Turner, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, New Haven, 1984, pp. 96-97, no. 132, pl. 136, NJ18 T85 B885 1984 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Catalogue of the art treasures of the United Kingdom : collected at Manchester in 1857, Bradbury and Evans, London, 1857, p. 188, no. 319, N5056 .M35 M25 1857 (YCBA)Malcolm Cormack, J. M. W. Turner : A selection of paintings and watercolors in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1983, pp. 10, 14, no. 12, pl. 10, NJ18 .T85 C68 + Oversize (YCBA)Emily Dickinson Museum, Angles of a Landscape : Emily Dickinson : Seeing New Englandly, , 2010, Not Available at YaleA. J. Finberg, The life of J. M. W. Turner, R.A., , Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1961, pp. 273-274, 482, no. 256, NJ18 T85 F55 1961 (YCBA)Norbert Göttler, Eine rechte Malerluft, ein wahres Malerlicht : Künstlerkolonien, Malerorte und pittoreske Landpartien in Oberbayern, , Bayerland, Dachau, 2011, pp. 8-10, Not Available at YaleJonathan Mayne, Taste in Water-Colour, Apollo, vol. 77, April 1963, p. 293, fig. 6, N1 A54 + (YCBA) Second copy available in Vertical File : V1168Valérie Mettais, Turner : the essential paintings, Prestel, Munich, 2025, vol. 1, pp. 20-21, pl. 9 (vol. 2), NJ18 .T85 M48 2025Painting in England 1700-1850 : collection of Mr. & Mrs. Paul Mellon : Exhibition at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, , , Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA, 1963, p. 95, no. 142, ND466 V57 v.1-2 (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 2, no. 89, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Eric Shanes, The life and masterworks of J.M.W. Turner, Parkstone Press, New York, 2008, p. 135, NJ18 T85 S441 2008 + OVERSIZE (YCBA)Study Sheds Light on Ancient Roman Water System in Naples, , Popular Archaeology, May 16, 2016, https://popular-archaeology.com/article/study-sheds-light-on-ancient-roman-water-system-in-naples/The critique of reason : Romantic art, 1760-1860 : March 6-July 26, 2015, Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, 2015, pp. 2-3, fig. 2, V 2574 (YCBA)Walter Thornbury, Life of J.M.W. Turner , R.A. founded on letters and papers furnished by his friends and fellow-academicians, , Chatto & Windus, London, 1904, p. 590, NJ18 T85 T38 1904 (YCBA)Raleigh Trevelyan, The shadow of Vesuvius : Pompeii AD 79, Joseph, London, 1976, pp. 82-83, 127, fig. 61, DG70 .P4 T73 (SML)Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner : the making of a master, Tate Publishing, London, 2013, pp. 149, 152, fig. 53, NJ18.T85 T3652 2013 (YCBA)Ian Warrell, J.M.W. Turner, Tate Publishing, London, 2007, p. 255, fig. 58, NJ18 T85 A12 2007 + (YCBA)Ian Warrell, Turner, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2025, pp. 24, 61, 72-73, 136, pl. 38, NJ18 .T85 W37 2025 (YCBA)L. Pearce Williams, Album of science : The nineteenth century, Scribner, New York, 1978, pp. 141-143, fig. 217, Q125.6 .W54 1978 + Oversize (LSF)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, pp. 137, 381, no. 697, pl. 145, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
With showers of molten magma creating the impression of a vast firework display, this view shows Turner’s remarkable ability to recreate nature’s intensity through his own imaginative powers. It was a fitting subject to showcase his growing technical skill: by the early nineteenth century, depictions of Mount Vesuvius in eruption had become the epitome of the artistic sublime. This strand of imagery emphasized the luminosity of the volcano’s lava by placing it against the enveloping darkness of the night. Turner’s view clearly derives from this formula — indeed, it was not until nearly two years later that he first visited Italy. However, he redeploys it to unprecedently spectacular effect, once again emphasizing his determination to outdo his predecessors. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)