| The Opening of the Wallhalla | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | J. M. W. Turner |
| Year | 1843 |
| Type | Oil on mahogany, history painting |
| Dimensions | 112.7 cm× 200.7 cm(44.4 in× 79.0 in) |
| Location | Tate Britain, London |
'The Opening of the Wallhalla, 1842 is an 1843 oil painting by the British artist J.M.W. Turner. [1] It depicts the opening ceremony for the Walhalla in Bavaria. [2] sLocated on a hillside outside Regensburg on the River Danube, the large Doric monument was constructed to celebrate German history overseen by Ludwig I of Bavaria. [3]
Contents
Travelling back from Venice in 1840, Turner had seen the Walhalla under construction. Intending this as a tribute, he imagined the opening ceremony as a panoramic landscape. Turner displayed the work at the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1843 at the National Gallery in London. He then sent it to be shown in Munich in 1845 but it received a poor reception and was taken as insult because of its hazy composition. The picture formed part of the Turner Bequest of 1856 and is now in the collection of the Tate Britain in Pimlico. [4]
