How does Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino elucidate its Background?
Modern Rome – Campo Vaccino is a landscape vision of the unexcavated Roman Forum, still called the Campo Vaccino, the "Cow Pasture", shimmering in hazy light and is the last of Turner's twenty-year series of views of the city. It was painted at the peak of Turner's career from studies and sketches made on two visits to the city. It was completed in 1839. Features of Classical, Renaissance and Baroque Rome occupy the canvas, but the foreground contains indicators of modern life, including goatherds. One of Turner's main themes in the work was the rise and fall of civilizations.It was first purchased by Hugh Munro, a friend and patron of Turner, from a Royal Academy exhibition in 1839. The painting was purchased for 4,450 guineas by the 5th Earl of Rosebery and his wife, Hannah Rothschild on their honeymoon in 1878. It was hung in the family's country home, Mentmore Towers and in their London residences for a century. In 1978, the painting, which had remained in the family, was loaned to the National Gallery of Scotland.
National Gallery of Scotland landscape Baroque Renaissance Royal Academy Hannah Rothschild Rome Roman Forum 5th Earl of Rosebery Mentmore Towers Classical Hugh Munro guineas