The picture retains the freshness of the moment it was painted - the hairs from Turner's brush, his fingerprint, the drips of liquid paint which have run down the edge of the canvas, and every scrape of his palette knife have been preserved in incredible detail,"
"This is one of those amazing pictures by which Mr Turner dazzles the imagination and confounds all criticism. It is beyond praise."
However, Turner's three-painting Royal Academy show in which it was exhibited was savagely criticised at the time by Blackwood's Magazine.
The sale comes amid raised interest in the Romantic artist's work, sparked by Mike Leigh's biopic Mr Turner.
The 92cm by 125cm (36in by 50in) canvas was based on Turner's own drawings of the city he made in 1828. It was commissioned by the artist's friend and patron, Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro.