Joseph Mallord William TurnerBritish, 1775–1851St Michael's Mount, Cornwall
Can I see it?
Yes, on view now
Where is “St Michael's Mount, Cornwall” now? Victoria and Albert Museum, Paintings, Room 87, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries, London. Yes, on view now. Checked September 25, 2026.
London, United Kingdom
RoomPaintings, Room 87, The Edwin and Susan Davies Galleries
Closed· opens tomorrow at 10:00 AM
On public display.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the painting
The island of St Michael's Mount is the site of a medieval monastery. Its harbour is linked to the mainland by a causeway at low tide. This composition derives from sketches made in 1811. One critic thought it 'unsubstantial and visionary'. It is probably a pair with Line Fishing, Off Hastings, also in the V&A.
Victoria and Albert Museum
Details
- Accession number
- FA.209[O]
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- Image: Victoria and Albert Museum — © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
In the life of Joseph Mallord William Turner
The whole life1830–1840s
Criticism in the 1830s–1840s and Ruskin’s defence
His innovative works, bordering on abstraction, gave him a reputation for madness: the Victorian public preferred realism and sentimentality, and Queen Victoria refused to knight him. John Ruskin came to his defence, calling him “the greatest artist of all time”.
1833
Vienna and Venice: down the Danube, back by the Rhine
He visited Vienna and Venice, travelling down the Danube and returning via the Rhine; the trip to Venice inspired important works such as “Venice, from the Porch of Madonna della Salute” (1835), “Venice, the Bridge of Sighs” (1840) and “The Sun of Venice Going to Sea” (1843).
1835–1836
Denmark and Prussia, then Switzerland and the Val d’Aosta
In 1835 he visited Denmark, Prussia, Hamburg and Rotterdam, and in 1836 France and Switzerland, crossing the Alps into the Val d’Aosta valley.
