Travels around Italy

Canosa was an important town in ancient Apulia (modern Puglia, south-eastern Italy). By the time that this pot was produced, there was a strong mix of...

from Milan to Venice Sketchbook [Finberg CLXXV], Milan: the church of San Ambrogio, with Studies of SculpturesJoseph Mallord William Turner1819Pencil on papersupport: 112 x 185 mmAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

print; etching; Macdonnell Collection; Military; Soldiers

This small domestic shrine celebrates St Rosalia, a medieval hermit and the patron saint of Palermo in Sicily. After the Counter Reformation, a period of intense reform for the Roman Catholic Church from the 1540s, church authorities were keen to regulate the worship of approved saints. In 1627 St Rosalia's name was entered into the official list of Catholic martyrs by the Jesuits in Rome. Craftsmen in Trapani, Sicily, were renowned for their imaginative and skilled use of coral. They decorated a wide variety of religious and secular vessels using this colourful technique.

The Devastation of the Earthquake at Messina, Sicily: The PalazzataHenry Treshamcirca 1783-8Pen and ink and watercolour on papersupport: 265 x 411 mmPurchased as part of the Oppé Collection with assistance from the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund 1996

Sulphur is an elemental substance, it is yellow to brown in colour and rare in crystalline form. Specimen from the Natural History Museum, London originally from Agrigento, Sicily.

This box was made in Venice in about 1550. The mosaic inlay on the lid resembles Islamic patterns, which reflect close trading contacts between Venice and the Eastern Mediterranean. However, the stars and hexagons on the front and sides are strikingly similar to those on the body of an undated lute (Museum no. 193-1882) made by Marx Unverdorber, a German craftsman living Venice, who flourished around this time. This is an interesting example of creating a three dimensional effect by juxtaposing lighter and darker pieces of wood - an art at which the Italians excelled.

Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) was the British Envoy to the Kingdom of Naples and the Two Sicilies from 1764 to 1798. He was a renowned collector of...

Although the painting bears a false signature of Léopold Robert (q.v.), Papety’s original signature underneath was revealed by local cleaning in 1985. Papety was one of many artists influenced by Léopold Robert’s scenes from Italian popular life which were much admired in the nineteenth century (cf. Léopold Robert P590-2). He visited Naples in 1839.

Observation on the volcanoes of the two Sicilies, Naples, 1776 & 1779 compiled by Sir William Hamilton (1730-1803) while Ambassador to the Kingdom of Naples.

from Naples: Rome. C. Studies Sketchbook [Finberg CLXXXVII], Naples: the Castle of the EggJoseph Mallord William Turner1819Pencil and watercolour on papersupport: 254 x 405 mmAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

Irrigators, Southern ItalyJames Havard Thomascirca 1899-1906Drawing on papersupport: 549 x 813 mmPurchased 1922

Object TypeThis sconce (wall light) incorporates a peacock within its design, a favourite motif in the decorative arts of the late 19th century. It was always intended to be an exhibition piece. Alexander Fisher (1864-1936) first showed this sconce, which he designed and made, at the Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society in 1899 and again at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative Art in Turin, Italy, in 1902.Materials & MakingAlexander Fisher initially trained as a silversmith at the South Kensington Schools, London (now the Royal College of Art), between 1881 and 1884. Fired with an interest in enamelling by the French enameller Louis Dalpayrat, he went to Paris to study this art. Fisher mastered many different enamelling techniques and made specimen pieces demonstrating his mastery of them. In 1896 he wrote, 'The varieties of enamelling known as champlevé, cloisonné, basse taille, plique-à-jour and Limoges painting, I have mastered in turn...all these methods were used formerly before the present revival; but they were not so completely understood or carried so far as they are today, nor were the whole methods practised by any artist as they are now'.PeopleFisher was an influential teacher. His pupils mainly followed his painting technique, working with translucent colours over silver or copper covered with foils. Their compositions were based on a central figure and a specific theme. Among his students were Nelson Dawson (1859-1942), Ernestine Mills and Lady Carmichael (who taught Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936), whose work is featured in the 'Scottish School' display in the British Galleries).

A very late work, left unfinished at Bonington’s death. The Piazza San Marco is seen from the west. In the background are the Basilica of San Marco and the Campanile; on the left the Torre dell’Orologio, and on the right the Procuratie Nuove. Bonington spent four weeks in Venice during the course of his tour of northern Italy in April-June 1826.

Perhaps painted during Papety’s stay at the French Academy in Rome 1836-41. Although more sentimental than most, it is characteristic of the studies of Italian popular types painted by many northern artists in Italy (cf. Winterhalter P669).

From 1776 to 1783 the Welsh artist Thomas Jones (1742-1803) lived and worked in Italy. He spent the last three years in Naples, where he met many Engl...

... described thus in a letter of 8th April: 'a small cave from the ground of which there issues a sulphurous flame which at once destroys any animal who is forced into it.' (J. Fleming, Robert Adam and his Circle in Edinburgh & Rome, London, 1962, p.154). 'Lago

... Clérisseau, which also shows the Temple of Venus. Both temples were part of the same large complex of baths dating from the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. A plan and an account of these buildings is given in Paoli, Avanzi Delle Antichita ...

AD and is situated beside the Via Appia. The inscription on the album leaf in a later hand is the same hand as that found on Adam vol.57/25.

... Adam vol.26/129 This Corinthian capital may be from the Temple of Sybil (Vesta) at Tivoli, Italy. There are two capitals from Tivoli illustrated in G.L. Taylor & E. Cresy, The Architectural Antiquities of Rome, (2 vols., London, 1821, vol.II, p.7), both with fluted columns ...

Modern Italy, engraved by W. MillerJoseph Mallord William Turnerpublished 1842Line-engraving on paperimage: 433 x 609 mmPurchased 1990

Turner first visited Italy in 1819 with the encouragement of Sir Thomas Lawrence, his most loyal advocate before Ruskin. He narrowly escaped disaster ...

from Rogers's Italy 1830 Watercolours, Rome (Castle of St Angelo), for Rogers's `Italy', 1830Joseph Mallord William Turnercirca 1826-36Gouache, pencil and watercolour on papersupport: 240 x 306 mmAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

from Rogers's Italy 1830 Watercolours, Florence, for Rogers's `Italy', 1830Joseph Mallord William Turnercirca 1826-36Gouache, pencil and watercolour on papersupport: 242 x 305 mmAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

from Rogers's Italy 1830 Watercolours, Perugia, for Rogers's `Italy', 1830Joseph Mallord William Turnercirca 1826-7Gouache, pencil and watercolour on papersupport: 234 x 307 mmAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856

from Rogers's Italy 1830 Watercolours, The Forum, for Rogers's `Italy', 1830Joseph Mallord William Turnercirca 1827Pencil and watercolour on papersupport: 247 x 307 mmAccepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856