The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1839 was the seventy first Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at the National Gallery in London from 6 May to 27 July 1839. It featured submissions from leading painters, sculptors and architects of the early Victorian era.
J.M.W. Turner sent in a number of paintings, each of which met with a degree of critical hostility. The best known of these works was The Fighting Temeraire, featuring a celebrated Napoleonic War battleship being towed up the River Thames to be broken up. The others include included the companion pieces Ancient Rome - Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus and Modern Rome â Campo Vaccino both landscapes featuring views of the city Rome. He also displayed a third Roman-themed work Cicero at His Villa at Tusculum as well as The Rape of Proserpine based on Greek Mythology. Edwin Landseer debuted a number of paintings, reflecting his speciality in animal painting.
David Wilkie displayed the history painting Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tipoo Sahib, which was one of the most popular works in the exhibition. Wilkie also displayed a simpler genre subject Grace Before Meat. The Irish artist Daniel Maclise enjoyed success with his Robin Hood and His Merry Men Entertaining Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest, illustrating a scene from Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. Marshall Claxton submitted Lady Jane Grey in the Tower featuring a scene from the Tudor era while Solomon Hart displayed Lady Jane Grey at Her Place of Execution. Charles Landseer, the brother of Edwin, presented The Pillaging of a Jews House in the Reign of Richard I depicting medieval antisemitism.
In portraiture the President of the Royal Academy Martin Archer Shee displayed a depiction of the future Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen. His rival Thomas Phillips featured several portraits including Thomas Arnold and the art collector Lord Egremont. Francis Grant, rapidly establishing himself as one of the leading portrait painters of the early Victorian era, enjoyed success with his sporting painting The Melton Hunt Going to Draw the Ram's Head Cover which was bought by the Duke of Wellington for a large price. Amongst the many sculptures on display was Edward Hodges Baily's marble statue of the engineer Thomas Telford, designed for Westminster Abbey.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Joseph Mallord William Turner (British - Modern Rome-Campo Vaccino - Google Art Project.jpg|Modern Rome â Campo Vaccino by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Ancient Rome; Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus - Google Art Project.jpg|Ancient Rome â Agrippina Landing with the Ashes of Germanicus by J.M.W. Turner File:Turner - Cicero at His Villa at Tusculum, 1535124.jpg|Cicero at His Villa at Tusculum by J.M.W. Turner File:The Rape of Proserpine G-000641-20110523.jpg|The Rape of Proserpine by J.M.W. Turner File:General Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tippoo Sahib.jpg|Sir David Baird Discovering the Body of Sultan Tipoo Sahib by David Wilkie File:David Wilkie (1785-1841) - Grace before Meat - 1954P2 - Birmingham Museums Trust.jpg|Grace Before Meat by David Wilkie File:Charles Landseer (1799-1879) - The Pillaging of a Jew's House in the Reign of Richard I - N00611 - National Gallery.jpg|The Pillaging of a Jew's House in the Reign of Richard I by Charles Landseer File:William Mulready - The Sonnet - WGA16319.jpg|The Sonnet by William Mulready File:William Mulready (1786-1863) - Open Your Mouth and Shut Your Eyes - FA.143(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Open Your Mouth and Shut Your Eyes by William Mulready File:Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) - Robin Hood and His Merry Men Entertaining Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest - NCM 1984-400 - Nottingham Museums.jpg|Robin Hood and His Merry Men Entertaining Richard the Lionheart in Sherwood Forest by Daniel Maclise File:Lady Jane Grey at Her Place of Execution.jpg|Lady Jane Grey at Her Place of Execution by Solomon Hart File:John Rogers Herbert (1810-1890) - The Brides of Venice - BIKGM-1580 - Williamson Art Gallery and Museum.jpg|The Brides of Venice by John Rogers Herbert File:William Collins (1788-1847) - Poor Travellers at the Door of a Capuchin Convent near Vico, Bay of Naples - WAG 199 - Sudley House.jpg|Poor Travellers at the Door of a Capuchin Convent near Vico, Bay of Naples by William Collins File:Landseer.amburgh.jpg|Isaac van Amburgh and his Animals by Edwin Landseer File:Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873) - Tethered Rams - FA.95(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Tethered Rams by Edwin Landseer File:Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73) - Princess Mary of Cambridge with Nelson, a Newfoundland dog - RCIN 402300 - Royal Collection.jpg|Princess Mary of Cambridge with Nelson by Edwin Landseer File:Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865) - Christ Blessing Little Children - 1886.1 - Manchester Art Gallery.jpg|Christ Blessing Little Children by Charles Lock Eastlake File:The Football Game. Thomas Webster, 1839, 1.jpg|The Football Game by Thomas Webster File:The Entry of the Black Prince into London with the French King and his Son as Prisoners.png|The Entry of the Black Prince into London by James Ramsay File:Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869) - The Bride of Lammermoor - 6-1948 - Dundee Art Galleries and Museums.jpg|The Bride of Lammermoor by Robert Scott Lauder File:Pluto carrying off Proserpine by William Etty.jpg|Pluto Carrying off Proserpine by William Etty File:John Callcott Horsley (1817âÂÂ1903) - The Pride of the Village - N00446 - National Gallery.jpg|The Pride of the Village by John Callcott Horsley File:Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) - Dulcinea del Toboso - FA.131(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Dulcinea del Toboso by Charles Robert Leslie File:Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) - 'Who Can This Be^' - FA.111(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Who Can This Be? by Charles Robert Leslie File:Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) - 'Who can this be from^' - FA.112(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Who Can This Be From? by Charles Robert Leslie File:Charles Robert Leslie (1794-1859) - Sancho Panza (from Cervantes' 'Don Quixote') - FA.132(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Sancho Panza by Charles Robert Leslie File:Daniel Maclise (1806-70) - A Scene from Midas - RCIN 407172 - Royal Collection.jpg|A Scene from Midas by Daniel Maclise File:Daniel Maclise (1806-70) - A Scene from Gil Blas - RCIN 407173 - Royal Collection.jpg|A Scene from Gil Blas by Daniel Maclise File:Thomas Uwins (1782-1857) - Le Chapeau de Brigand - N00388 - National Gallery.jpg|Le Chapeau de Brigand by Thomas Uwins File:The Melton Hunt Going to Draw the Ram's Head Cover.jpg|The Melton Hunt Going to Draw the Ram's Head Cover by Francis Grant File:Thomas Arnold by Thomas Phillips.jpg|Portrait of Thomas Arnold by Thomas Phillips File:Thomas Phillips (1770-1845) - George O'Brien Wyndham (1751âÂÂ1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont, in the North Gallery, Petworth (posthumous) - 486298 - National Trust.jpg|Portrait of the Earl of Egremont by Thomas Phillips File:Sir Henry Sheehy Keating by Andrew Morton.jpg|Portrait of Henry Sheehy Keating by Andrew Morton File:John Simpson (1782âÂÂ1847) - The Duke of Wellington (1769âÂÂ1852) - 9 - Royal Hospital Chelsea.jpg|Portrait of the Duke of Wellington by John Simpson File:Henry William Pickersgill (1782-1875) - Thomas Grimston Bucknall Estcourt (1775âÂÂ1853), Burgess for the University - 35 - Corpus Christi College.jpg|Portrait of Thomas Estcourt by Henry William Pickersgill File:Portrait of the Earl of Derby (Briggs).png|Portrait of the Earl of Derby by Henry Perronet Briggs File:Statue of Thomas Telford, Westminster Abbey 01.jpg|Statue of Thomas Telford by Edward Hodges Baily </gallery>