Turner’s Rome painting returns to Italy before auction
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Sotheby’s displayed a painting by Joseph Mallord William Turner in Rome, Italy, 190 years after its creation, before it goes to auction in London on December 9, 2026.
The painting, depicting Rome, belonged to a British Prime Minister and has remained within families for generations. Experts estimate the artwork will sell for around 50 million pounds, making it the most valuable piece of art Sotheby’s has ever exhibited in Italy.
The painting’s value stems from Turner’s skill in using light and color to convey emotion, as well as its well-documented history of ownership and excellent condition. Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar originally commissioned the piece, and Archibald Primrose, the fifth Earl of Rosebery, purchased it in 1878 as a wedding gift for his wife. At the time, Primrose paid 6142 pounds for the painting, a sum exceeding any other artwork sold at auction.
Sotheby’s notes that Turner’s fingerprints and embedded brush hairs are visible on the canvas, offering a unique connection to the artist. Turner began the work while in Rome, completing it later in London after basing it on five studies he made during a stay in the city from 1828 to 1829.
