The rotate picture command has never worked for me in 1.3 or 1.3.1 It always takes me back to the page without any error messages, and without the image rotated.
(Incidentally after upgrading from 1.3 to 1.3.1 following the instructions (config, untar, secure), I had to completely flush my browser cache before I could login again).
Roger
Posts: 7994
Try turning on debug mode and watching the commands that Gallery executes. Read FAQ C.2 and follow its directions to simulate what Gallery's doing by hand to see if it generates any weird errors.