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Creator:
Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Engraved by Charles Turner, 1774–1857
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Title:
Bridge and Cows
Part Of:

Collective Title: Liber Studiorum

Date:
1807
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink; first published state on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 × 15 1/4 inches (27.9 × 38.7 cm), Plate: 8 1/8 × 11 3/8 inches (20.6 × 28.9 cm), Image: 7 1/8 × 10 3/8 inches (18.1 × 26.4 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed in graphite, lower left: "2.I."; lower right: "Proof | Dupl III"; inscribed on verso in graphite, lower center: "(C.J. Palmer. 1868)"; lower right: "Cotswold Gallery. 1924, ex G. E. Blood, & Sir John Hippisley | (Sir John Hippisley)"

Collector’s mark: John Stuart Hippisley (Lugt 1535); collector's mark: Charles J. Palmer (Lugt 2946); collector's mark: G. E. Blood (Lugt 265c)

Lettered above image: "P"; below image: "Drawn & Etched by J.M.W.Turner, R.A. | Engraved by C.Turner | Published as the Act directs by J.M.W.Turner Harley Street."

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8097
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
bridge (built work) | cow | house | landscape | peasant | trees | water
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26110
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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)

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