How did J.M.W. Turner use warm and cool colors in The Bay of Baiae, with Apollo and the Sibyl?

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J.M.W. Turner: The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up, 1838 — J.M.W. Turner *The Fighting Temeraire Tugged to Her Last Berth to Be Broken Up, 1838*, oil on canvas by J.M.W. Turner, 1839; in the National Gallery, London.

In his 1823 painting The Bay of Baiae, with Apollo and the Sibyl, J.M.W. Turner demonstrated a significant advancement in his stylistic approach to color following his first visit to Italy.1

Rather than relying on traditional methods of creating depth through dark and light tones, Turner achieved contrast in this work by setting off warm and cool colors against one another. This technique, combined with a more iridescent treatment of the scene, allowed him to create a sense of transparency that resembled the qualities of a watercolor painting. In this composition, the shadows are rendered with as much color as the lights, contributing to the luminous and atmospheric quality that became a hallmark of his middle period.1