Snow Storm: Hannibal and His Army crossing the Alps, 1812
Oil on canvas
Tate, London, Bequeathed by the Artist, 1856

“[Hannibal’s] troops had indeed endured hardships enough; but there was worse to come….[W]inter was near – and it began to snow….[A]s in most parts of the Alps the descent on the Italian side, being shorter, is correspondingly steeper, the going was much more difficult than it had been during the ascent.”
Livy, Periochae; History of Rome from its Beginning, A.D. 14, translated by Aubrey de Selincourt (1965)

Snow Storm: Hannibal and his Army Crossing the Alps is a fusion of Joseph Mallord William Turner’s travel experiences in Europe and the ancient historical accounts of Hannibal’s invasion of Italy in 218 B.C. Turner places the scene in the Val d’Aosta in northwestern Italy which he had visited in 1802. The snow storm is inspired by one he experienced in Yorkshire, England. Hannibal’s army, seen stretched across the bottom of the canvas, is approaching the rugged landscape and will soon be engulfed in a treacherous storm. At the time Turner painted this work, he was interested in the recent war between France and the surrounding countries. He saw a parallel between Hannibal and Napoleon, who had crossed the Alps to invade Italy in 1797. The storm in the painting may symbolize the downfall of empires past and present, serving as a warning against Britain’s thirst for power. Turner identifies both nature and history as powerful forces against human accomplishment.