TURNER, Joseph Mallord William 1775-1851

Dido building Carthage
Full title: 'Dido building Carthage, or The Rise of the Carthaginian Empire'

1815

TURNER, Joseph Mallord William
1775 - 1851


One of Turner's most ambitious imitations of the 17th-century French painter Claude. The subject, inspired by Virgil's epic Latin poem, the 'Aeneid', is the building of the North African city of Carthage, which Dido founded. The figure in white on the left is Dido, and on the right is the tomb erected for her dead husband, Sichaeus. In front of Dido is a figure who may be Aeneas: Virgil tells of their love affair, and of Dido's suicide following his departure. Turner was attracted by the human contrast to the theme of empire building. Hints of doom contrast with the serene effects of sunlight.

In Turner's will he asked for this and his 'Sun Rising through Vapour' to be hung between Claude's 'Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba' and 'Landscape with the Marriage of Isaac and Rebecca' at the National Gallery.

Oil on canvas
155.5 x 230 cm.