Dive into the magnificence of Turner with CGI technology

J.M.W. Turner is known the world over for his mastery of capturing the ethereal nature of light. Seeing his paintings in the flesh has, until now, been an unmatched experience. However, thanks to a clever use of CGI technology Sotheby’s have found a way of showing one of Turner’s masterpieces in a stunning new way.

Ahead of their Old Master Paintings sale (Sotheby’s London, July 5, 2017) the auction house used digitial mapping to take viewers inside the landscape of the Ehrenbreitstein. The painting depicts a ruined fortress on a mountain of the same name on the east bank of the Rhine in Germany. It was first exhibited in 1835 at the Royal Academy alongside lines from Lord Byron’s epic poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. In the painting, Turner realises the vision of Byron’s world-weary hero as he travels down the River Rhine and with the new film, the story is brought to life again.

The painting is one of only six major Turner works still in private hands and it sold for £18.5 million.