The Royal Academy Exhibition of 1840 was the seventy second annual Summer Exhibition of the British Royal Academy of Arts. It was held at the National Gallery in London from 4 May to 24 July 1840 and featured submissions from leading painters, sculptors and architects of the early Victorian era.
J.M.W. Turner submitted a series of paintings including landscape scenes of Venice and Naples. One of his more unusual works was The Slave Ship which showed the crew of a slaver throwing their enslaved prisoners overboard in a scene likely inspired by the eighteenth century Zong massacre. Edwin Landseer, a specialist in animal paintings, featured a number of works including Laying Down the Law. One of his best-known paintings it shows a group of dogs who resemble the proceedings of an English court of law.
Francis Grant, an emerging Scottish portrait painter, displayed Queen Victoria Riding Out featuring Queen Victoria and her Prime Minister Lord Melbourne at Windsor. David Wilkie submitted his own Portrait of Queen Victoria to a hostile critical reception.
<Gallery Mode="packed" Heights="200"> File:Slave-ship.jpg|The Slave Ship by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Venice, the Bridge of Sighs - Google Art Project.jpg|Venice, the Bridge of Sighs by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner - Venice from the Giudecca.png|Venice from the Giudecca by J.M.W. Turner File:(Barcelona) The New Moon; or, âÂÂIâÂÂve lost My Boat, You shanâÂÂt have Your Hoopâ - William Turner - Tate Britain.jpg|The New Moon by J.M.W. Turner File:Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) - Bacchus and Ariadne - N00525 - National Gallery.jpg|Bacchus and Ariadne by J.M.W. Turner File:Turner, Neapolitan Fisher Girls Surprised Bathing by Moonlight (1840).jpg|Neapolitan Fisher Girls Surprised Bathing by Moonlight by J.M.W. Turner File:J.M.W. Turner's Rockets and Blue Lights (Close at Hand) to Warn Steamboats of Shoal Water.jpg|Rockets and Blue Lights by J.M.W. Turner File:Edwin Landseer Trial By Jury.jpg|Laying Down the Law by Edwin Landseer File:Edwin Henry Landseer (1802-1873) - Horses Taken in to Bait - 622741 - National Trust.jpg|Horses Taken in to Bait by Edwin Landseer File:The Lion Dog of Malta.png|The Lion Dog of Malta by Edwin Landseer File:Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73) - Islay, Tilco, a Macaw and two Lovebirds - RCIN 403194 - Royal Collection.jpg|Islay, Tilco, a Macaw and Two Lovebirds by Edwin Landseer File:David Roberts - A View in Cairo - WGA19627.jpg|A View in Cairo by David Roberts File:The First Meeting of Petrarch and Laura.png|The First Meeting of Petrarch and Laura by Henry Nelson O'Neil File:David Wilkie. The Irish Whiskey Still. 1839. Art Museum Riga Bourse. Latvia.jpg|The Irish Whiskey Still by David Wilkie File:Charles Landseer (1799-1879) - Nell Gwynn at the Tavern - WAG 1755 - Walker Art Gallery.jpg|Nell Gwynn at the Tavern by Charles Landseer File:Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869) - The Gow Chrom and the Glee Maiden - H5520 - Hospitalfield House.jpg|The Glee Maiden by Robert Scott Lauder File:Thomas Creswick (1811-1869) - The Ford - N01785 - National Gallery.jpg|The Ford by Thomas Creswick File:John Martin - The Eve of the Deluge - WGA14146.jpg|The Eve of the Deluge by John Martin File:The Assuaging of the Waters by John Martin, 1840.jpg|The Assuaging of the Waters by John Martin File:William Simson (1800-1847) - Gil Blas Introducing Himself to Laura - FA.181(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Gil Blas Introducing Himself to Laura by William Simson File:William Etty (1787-1849) - Mars, Venus and an Attendant - 515506 - National Trust.jpg| Mars, Venus and an Attendant Derobing her Mistress for the Bath by William Etty File:Andromed by William Etty, c. 1840.jpg|Andromeda, Perseus Coming to Her Rescue by William Etty File:John Callcott Horsley (1817-1903) - The Contrast, Youth and Age - FA.81(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|The Contrast by John Callcott Horsley File:Neapolitan Peasants at the Festa of the Madonna dell'Arco by T. Uwins.jpg|Neapolitan Peasants at the Festa of the Madonna dell'Arco by Thomas Uwins File:John Rogers Herbert - The Monastery in the 14th Century, Boar Hunters Refreshed at Saint Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury - y1988-24 - Princeton University Art Museum.jpg|Boar Hunters Refreshed at Saint Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury by John Rogers Herbert File:The Banquet Scene in Macbeth.png|The Banquet Scene in Macbeth by Daniel Maclise File:A Scene from Gil Blas .PNG|A Scene from Gil Blas by Daniel Maclise File:Daniel Maclise (1806-1870) - Scene from 'Twelfth Night' ('Malvolio and the Countess') - N00423 - National Gallery.jpg|Malvolio and the Countess by Daniel Maclise File:Charles West Cope (1811-1890) - Almsgiving - FA.57(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|Almsgiving by Charles West Cope File:A Neapolitan Boy Decorating the Head of His Innamorata at the Festa of the Madonna del Arco - by Thomas Uwins.jpg|A Neapolitan Boy Decorating the Head of His Innamorata by Thomas Uwins File:Ave Maria scene near Tivoli.png|Ave Maria Scene Near Tivoli by William Collins File:William Mulready (1786-1863) - First Love - FA.141(O) - Victoria and Albert Museum.jpg|First Love by William Mulready File:William Mulready (1786-1863) - Fair Time ('Returning from the Ale-House') - N00394 - National Gallery.jpg|Fair Time by William Mulready File:Dromos, Great Temple at Edfou.png|Great Temple at Edfou by David Roberts File:John Christian Schetky, Loss of the Royal George (exhibited 1840).jpg|Loss of the Royal George by John Christian Schetky File:Andrew Morton (1802-1845) - The Duke of Wellington with Colonel Gurwood at Apsley House - P632 - The Wallace Collection.jpg|The Duke of Wellington with Colonel Gurwood at Apsley House by Andrew Morton File:Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Rothwell.tif|Portrait of Mary Shelley by Richard Rothwell File:John Lucas (1807-1874) - Duke of Wellington, KG, in the Uniform of the Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire - FA1993.28 - Hampshire County Council.jpg|Portrait of the Duke of Wellington by John Lucas File:Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman by Sir Martin Archer Shee.jpg|Portrait of Lord Denman by Martin Archer Shee, previously displayed at Exhibition of 1833 File:Henry William Pickersgill (1782-1875) - Sir James Rivett-Carnac (1785âÂÂ1846), Bt, Director of the East India Company (1827), Governor of Bombay (1838âÂÂ1841) - F47 - British Library.jpg|Portrait of James Rivett-Carnac by Henry William Pickersgill File:Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise.jpg|Portrait of Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise File:Robert Scott Lauder (1803-1869) - David Roberts (1796âÂÂ1864), Artist, in Arab Dress - PG 2466 - National Galleries of Scotland.jpg|Portrait of David Roberts by Robert Scott Lauder File:John Arbuthnott (Wilkie).jpg|Portrait of Lord Arbuthnott by David Wilkie File:David Wilkie (1785-1841) - Queen Victoria (1819âÂÂ1901), in Robes of State - LL 3598 - Lady Lever Art Gallery.jpg|Portrait of Queen Victoria by David Wilkie File:Charles Pepys, 1st Earl of Cottenham by Charles Robert Leslie.jpg|Portrait of Earl of Cottenham by Charles Robert Leslie File:Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex by Thomas Phillips.jpg|Portrait of the Duke of Sussex by Thomas Phillips File:Soult2.jpg|Portrait of Marshal Soult by George Peter Alexander Healy File:John Whichelo (Watts).png|Portrait of John Whichelo by George Frederick Watts File:Queen Victoria, 1838.jpg|Portrait of Queen Victoria by Thomas Sully </gallery>