Mercury Sent to Admonish Aeneas
- Artist: Joseph Mallord William Turner
- Date: exhibited 1850
- Medium: Oil paint on canvas
- Dimensions: support: 902 x 1206 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is “Mercury Sent to Admonish Aeneas” by Joseph Mallord William Turner, an oil on canvas that measures 902 × 1,206 mm. It was shown at the Royal Academy in 1850, the last time Turner exhibited there. The scene pulls from Virgil’s epic: Aeneas, helmeted and cloaked, stands on the left with Cupid beside him, while the winged messenger Mercury has already melted into the rising sun, his form barely visible in a glittering mist. The sea and a faint ship frame the landscape, giving the work a seascape feel. Critics of the time were both impressed and puzzled; one even remarked that Turner had swapped the “dignity” of old age for the “effervescence of youth.” The painting entered the collection as part of the Turner Bequest in 1856. It’s a compelling example of how Turner blended myth with atmospheric light, turning a heroic moment into a fleeting, almost dream‑like vision.
See it in person
Mercury Sent to Admonish Aeneas is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
