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Creator:
Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Engraved by J. C. Easling, fl.1788–1815
Center engraved by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Title:
Frontispiece to the 'Liber Studiorum'
Additional Title(s):
Tyre and the Rape of Europa
Part Of:

Collective Title: Liber Studiorum

Date:
1812
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink; first published state on medium, slightly textured, cream wove paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 1/2 × 17 5/8 inches (29.2 × 44.8 cm), Plate: 8 1/2 × 11 5/8 inches (21.6 × 29.5 cm), Image: 7 3/8 × 10 1/2 inches (18.7 × 26.7 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in graphite, upper right: "2 | 10"; lower left: "1.I"; inscribed on verso in graphite, lower center: "Cotswold Gallery 1924. ex G. E. Blood"

Watermark: "J Whatman | 1810"; Turner sale mark: J.M.W. Turner (Lugt 1498); collector's mark: G.E. Blood (Lugt 265c)

Lettered above image: "This FRONTISPIECE to"; inside image, upper center: "LIBER STUDIORUM'"; center left: "Engraved by Wm. Annis | G. Clint | I.C. Easling | R. Dunkarton | H. Daw | T. Hodgetts | S.W. Reynolds | W. Say | C. Turner | J.M.W. Turner" below image: "Drawing Etched and the Centre Engraved by I.M.W. Turner Esqr. R.A.P.P."; lower right: "Engraved by I.C. Easling"; lower center: "is most respectfully presented to the Subscribers, by J.M.W. Turner, Queen Ann Street West | Published May 23, 1812, by I.M.W. Turner, Queen Ann Street West"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8095
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
architectural subject | basket | fish | frame (furnishing) | painting (visual work) | peacock | still life
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26108
Export:
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IIIF Manifest:
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According to Turner, all landscapes belong to one of six fundamental categories: Architectural, Historical, Marine, Mountainous, Pastoral, and Elevated Pastoral. These prints are part of a systematic publication, the Liber Studiorum (“Book of Studies”), containing examples from each of these categories. This work provides further testimony to the enduring influence of Claude Lorrain. Claude made sepia ink and wash drawings to record all his authentic compositions and brought them together to form his celebrated Liber Veritatis (“Book of Truth”). These drawings came to be seen as the epitome of the art of landscape and were later reproduced as fine mezzotints. They inspired Turner to make his own, even more ambitious equivalents. Though imitating the format and sepia coloring of Claude’s drawings, Turner’s plates were intended not as a record of his paintings but to illustrate his own original theory of landscape art. Although never completely finished, the Liber Studiorum is among the artist’s most personal and pioneering contributions to the practice of printmaking.

Gallery label for J. M. W. Turner: Romance and Reality (Yale Center for British Art, March - 29, 2025 - July 27, 2025)

The Romantic Print in Britain - Yale Center for British Art (Carnegie Museum of Art, 2004-02-14 - 2004-05-09) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

The Romantic Landscape Prints - The Chiaroscuro of Nature (Yale Center for British Art, 2002-09-25 - 2002-12-29) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Ruskin - Past: Present: Future (Yale Center for British Art, 2000-01-20 - 2000-02-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Translations - Turner and Printmaking (Yale Center for British Art, 1993-09-29 - 1993-12-05) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Eric M. Lee, Translations : Turner and printmaking, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1993, p. 15, no. 12, NJ18 .T85 L44 1993 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Sam Smiles, The late works of J. M. W. Turner : the artist and his critics, The Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, 2020, p. 115, fig. 53, NJ18.t85 S655 2020 Oversize (YCBA) [YCBA]


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