Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.78
Classification:
Paintings
Collection:
Paintings and Sculpture
Subject Terms:
Aeneas' visit to the underworld | religious and mythological subject | the arrival of Aeneas at Cumae, where they consult Deiphobe, the Cumaean Sibyl, who foretells of Aeneas' wars in Latium | landscape | costume | shield | ruins | ruins | castle | mountains | hills | lake | city | armor | men | woman | soldiers | relief | darkness | mythology | Roman | epics | poem | legend
Associated Places:
Italy | Cumae | Averno, Lago d' | Avernus, Lake | Campania | Napoli
Currently On View:
On view
Exhibition History:
J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27)In a New Light: Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art (Yale University Art Gallery, 2023-03-24 - 2023-12-03)Romanticism (Gallerie d'Italia - Piazza Scala, 2018-10-25 - 2019-03-17)Richard Wilson and the Transformation of European Landscape Painting (Yale Center for British Art, 2014-03-06 - 2014-06-01)Turner and Italy (Palazzo dei Diamanti, Ferrara, 2008-11-16 - 2009-02-22)Turner and Italy (National Gallery of Scotland, 2009-03-26 - 2009-06-07)Nobleness and Grandeur - Forging Historical Landscape in Britain, 1760 - 1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 2005-01-27 - 2005-04-24)Great British Paintings from American Collections: Holbein to Hockney (Yale Center for British Art, 2001-09-27 - 2001-12-30)Great British Paintings from American Collections: Holbein to Hockney (The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens, 2002-02-01 - 2002-05-05)This Other Eden : British Paintings from the Paul Mellon Collection at Yale (Art Gallery of New South Wales, 1998-05-01 - 1998-07-05)This Other Eden : British Paintings from the Paul Mellon Collection at Yale (Queensland Art Gallery, 1998-07-15 - 1998-09-06)This Other Eden : British Paintings from the Paul Mellon Collection at Yale (Art Gallery of South Australia, 1998-09-16 - 1998-11-15)Turner (British Council - Japan) (The National Museum of Western Art, 1986-08-16 - 1986-10-05)Turner (British Council - Japan) (Kyoto Municipal Museum of Art, 1986-10-14 - 1986-11-16)J. M. W. Turner (Musée du Louvre, 1983-10-14 - 1984-01-16)Classic Ground - British Artists and the Landscape of Italy, 1740-1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 1981-07-29 - 1981-09-20)J. M. W. Turner - A Selection of Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (National Gallery of Art, 1968-10-31 - 1969-04-21)Painting in England 1700-1850 - From The Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon (Yale University Art Gallery, 1965-04-15 - 1965-06-20)
Publications:
Sir Walter Armstrong, Turner, Thos. Agnew and Sons Ltd., London, 1902, p. 218, Folio A N 11 (YCBA)Duncan Bull, Classic ground : British artists and the landscape of Italy, 1740-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1981, pp. 7, 17-19, 23, no. 1, pl. I, ND1354.4 B85 (YCBA)Martin Butlin, The paintings of J.M.W. Turner, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, New Haven, 1984, pp. 24, 87, 135-136, 279 (vol. 1), no. 226, pl. 51, NJ18 T85 B885 1984 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Christie's sale catalogue : Stourhead heirlooms: pictures by old masters of the Italian, French, and Dutch schools; fine works of the early English school, and drawings : 2 June 1883, , Christie's, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, June 2, 1883, p. 5, lot 17, Fiche B51 (YCBA) Also Available online : Art Sales Catalogues - Lugt # 43108Malcolm Cormack, Concise Catalogue of Paintings in the Yale Center for British Art, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1985, pp. 226, 227, N590.2 .A83 (YCBA)Gabriele Crepaldi, Turner, Prestel, Munich ; London, 2011, pp. 70-71, NJ18.T85 C75 2011 (YCBA)J. C. Eade, Projecting the landscape, no. 4, Humanities Research Centre, Australian National University, Canberra, 1987, pl. 25, N8213 P76 (YCBA)Gerald Finley, Love and Duty: Turner and the Aeneas Legend, Zeitschrift für Kunstgeschichte, vol. 53, 1990, p. 385, fig. 8, Available online Available online through JStorJohn Gage, Turner and Stourhead: The Making of a Classicist?, Art Quarterly, vol. 37, Spring 1974, pp. 59-87, J10 Ar 81 + (LSF)Vic Gatrell, The first bohemians : life and art in London's golden age, , Allen Lane, London, 2013, pp. 209, 210, fig. 89, NX544.L6 G37 2013 (YCBA)Marco Goldin, Turner e gli impressionisti : la grande storia del paesaggio moderno in Europa, , Linea d'ombra srl, Conegliano [Italy], 2006, p. 117, ND192.I4 T87 2006 + (YCBA)Catherine M. Gordon, British paintings Hogarth to Turner, Frederick Warne, London, 1981, p. 67, ND466 .G67 (YCBA)James Hamilton, Turner & Italy, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh, 2009, p. 30, fig. 27, NJ18 T85 H252 2009 (YCBA)Robert L. Herbert, Monet on the Normandy coast : tourism and painting, 1867-1886, , Yale University Press, New Haven, 1994, pp. 57-59, NJ18 M77 H43 1994 (YCBA)Luke Herrmann, The Paul Mellon Collection at Burlington House, Connoisseur, vol. 157, December 1964, 215, 218, 221, , N1 C75 + OVERSIZE (YCBA)Olivia Horsfall Turner, Nobleness & grandeur : forging historical landscape in Britain 1760-1850, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2005, no. 53, V 1420 (YCBA)J.M.W. Turner : a selection of paintings from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, , National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1968, pp. 13, 22, no. 7, fig. 7, NJ18 T85 U5 (YCBA)J.M.W. Turner à l'occasion du cinquantième anniversaire du British Council : Galeries nationales du Grand Palais, Paris, 14 octobre 1983-16 janvier 1984, , Editions Réunion des Musées Nationaux, Paris, 1983, no. 31, NJ18 T85 J14 (YCBA)Julia Marciari-Alexander, This other Eden : Paintings from the Yale Center for British Art, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 1998, p. 88, no. 31, ND1314.3 Y36 1998 (YCBA)Fernando Mazzocca, Romanticismo, Silvana Editoriale, Cinisello Balsamo, Milano, 2018, p. 167, fig. 47, N6917.5.R6 R66 2018 (LC) Oversize (YCBA)Franny Moyle, Turner : The Extraordinary Life and Momentous Times of J.M.W. Turner, Penguin Books, New York, 2016, p. 271, NJ18 T85 M79 2016 (YCBA)National Gallery of Art, Painting in Georgian England from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon., National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1970, p. 20, ND488 P25 (YCBA)Kathleen Dukeley Nicolson, Turner's classical landscapes : myth and meaning, , Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., 1990, fig. 24, NJ18 T85 N53 1990 + (YCBA)Painting in England 1700-1850 from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon, The Royal Academy of Arts Winter Exhibition 1964-65., , Royal Academy of Arts, London, UK, 1964, pp. 49- 50 (v.1), no. 181, pl. 61, N5220.M45 R69 1964 (YCBA)Paul Mellon's Legacy : a passion for British art [large print labels], , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2007, v. 3, N5220 M552 P381 2007 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Martin Postle, Richard Wilson and the transformation of European landscape painting, Yale University Press, New Haven, 2014, no. 158, pp. 326-327, NJ18.W72 R53 2014 OVERSIZE (YCBA)Sam Smiles, The late works of J. M. W. Turner : the artist and his critics, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, 2020, p. 203, fig. 122, NJ18.t85 S655 2020 Oversize (YCBA)David H. Solkin, Turner and the masters, Tate Publishing, London, 2009, pp. 100, 112, fig. 57, NJ18 T85 T8352 2009+ (YCBA)Malcolm Warner, Great British paintings from American collections : Holbein to Hockney, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, 2001, p. 170, no. 49, ND464 W27 2001 (YCBA)Ian Warrell, Turner's Wessex : architecture and ambition, Scala, London, 2015, pp. 20-21, 35-37, 130, fig. 29, NJ18.T85 W3784 2015 (YCBA)Andrew Wilton, The life and work of J.M.W. Turner, Academy Editions, London, 1979, p. 226, no. P226, NJ18 T85 +W577 OVERSIZE (YCBA)K. Woodbridge, Sacred landscape: Painters and the Lake-garden of Stourhead, Apollo, vol. 88, London, England, September 1968, pp. 210-214, N1 A54 + (YCBA)Yale University Art Gallery, Painting in England, 1700-1850, from the collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon : [exhibition at] Yale University Art Gallery, April 15-June 20, 1965, , vol. 1, W. Clowes and sons, New Haven, 1965, p. 53 (v.1), no. 198, pl. 61, ND466 Y35 (YCBA)
Gallery Label:
The ancient Romans believed Lake Avernus — the water-filled mouth of an extinct volcano — was the entrance to the underworld. Turner shows the Cumaean Sibyl (a priestess) as she prepares to lead the mythical hero Aeneas through the lake to see his dead father. This depiction of the scene shows Claude’s deep influence on Turner. The sweeping lines of the trees, the warmth of coloring, and the landscape’s seemingly infinite recession all testify to Turner’s determination to rival his admired predecessor. Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)
Provenance:
Commissioned by Sir Richard Colt Hoare, second Baronet [1] (1758–1838), Stourhead, from Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775–1851), the artist, between 1814 and 1815 [a] [b]; by inheritance to his half-brother Sir Henry Hugh Hoare, third Baronet (1762–1841), Stourhead [2] [c]; by descent to his son Sir Hugh Richard Hoare, fourth Baronet (1787–1857), Stourhead [d]; by inheritance to his nephew, Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare, fifth Baronet (1824–1894), Stourhead [3] [e]; purchased at auction by “McLean,” possibly Thomas Miller McLean (1832–1908) [4] [f] at Christie, Manson & Woods, Ltd., London, June 1–2, 1883 (lot 17) in “Pictures by old masters of the Italian, French, and Dutch schools; fine works of the early English school, and drawings” [5] [g] [h]; …; acquired by Captain Codrington Gwynne Reid Walker (1895–1963) [6] [i], Ruckley Grange; acquired by Gooden and Fox, Ltd., London [7] [j]; purchased by Paul Mellon (1907–1999), October 1963 [k]; by whom given to the Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, Connecticut, December 1977. Notes: --- [1] Sir Richard Colt Hoare, second Baronet (1758–1838), was an English collector, amateur artist, and historian. He inherited Stourhead, Wiltshire, from his grandfather Henry Hoare II (1705–1785). He completed payments for this painting in February 1815. Receipts for the picture upon arrival at Stourhead are held in the Stourhead papers at the County Record Office, Trowbridge, Wiltshire, according to Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-13387. --- [2] Sir Richard Colt Hoare, second Baronet (1758–1838) outlived his only surviving son, Henry Richard Hoare (1784–1836). Thus, the baronetcy and his estates, including Stourhead, was inherited by his half-brother Sir Henry Hugh Hoare, third Baronet (1762–1841), a partner in the family’s bank. --- [3] Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare, fifth Baronet (1824–1894), inherited the title and estates, including Stourhead, from his uncle Sir Hugh Richard Hoare, fourth Baronet (1787–1857), who died without issue. --- [4] Thomas Miller McLean (1832–1908) was a picture dealer who operated a gallery on Haymarket Street near his frequent business partner Arthur Tooth of Tooth & Sons, Ltd. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/BIOG119231. --- [5] On the stretcher bar, a label named “Stourhead Heirlooms by order of Sir Henry Hoare, Bart.” as the collection to be sold at auction as lot 17 at Christie, Manson & Woods, London, on June 2, 1883. The label also names the artist and title of the work as “Lake Avernus, with the story of Aeneas and the Sibyl.” --- [6] Captain Codrington Gwynne Reid Walker was a British peer and officer in the Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Air Force. He was also known as a minor art and antiques collector. --- [7] A label with “Gooden & Fox, Ltd. 38 Bury Street, St. James’s, London” is affixed to the stretcher bar. Gooden & Fox merged with Hazlitt Galleries to become incorporated as Hazlitt, Gooden & Fox, Ltd., in 1973. Citations: --- [a] Martin Butlin and Evelyn Joll, The paintings of J.M.W. Turner, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, New Haven, 1984, no. 226, pl. 51, p. 121–22. --- [b] Richard Colt Hoare, Catalogue of the paintings and drawings at Stourhead, co. Wilts. : and a description of the mansion, with an account of the museum of British antiquities. London : Printed by John Bowyer Nichols and Son, 1840, p. 22. --- [c] “News in Brief,” The Times, May 24, 1838, p. 5. --- [d] “News,” Berkshire Chronicle, January 17, 1857, p. 3. --- [e] “News,” Berkshire Chronicle, January 17, 1857, p. 3. --- [f] “Stourton,” Western Gazette, June 8, 1883, p. 8. --- [g] Christie, Manson & Woods, Pictures by old masters of the Italian, French and Dutch schools, fine works of the early English school. 1883/6/2., London, 1883. https://search.library.yale.edu/catalog/1685533. --- [h] “Sale by Auction,” The Times, June 1, 1883, p. 16. --- [i] Butlin and Joll, The paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 1984, no. 226, pl. 51, p. 121–22. --- [k] Ibid. --- [k] Ibid. ---