<< YCBA Home Yale Center for British Art Yale Center for British Art << YCBA Home

YCBA Collections Search

 
IIIF Actions
Creator:
Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Engraved by Charles Turner, 1774–1857
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Title:
Dunstanborough Castle
Part Of:

Collective Title: Liber Studiorum

Date:
1808
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink; first published state on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 11 5/8 × 16 3/4 inches (29.5 × 42.5 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, upper right: "/4 | 24"; lower left: "14. I"; lower right: "DVC IV"; inscribed on verso in graphite, lower left: "14. I" (CJ Palmer 1868)"; lower center: "Cotswold Gallery, 1924, ex. G.E.Blood, CJ Palmer, & Sir John Hippisly" | (Sir John Hippisly)"

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: "A"; below image: "Drawn & Etched by J.M.W.Turner Esqr. R.A.P.P. | Engraved by C.Turner | Dunstanborough Castle the Picture in the possession of W. Penn Esqr. | London, Published June 10, 1808 by C.Turner, No. 50 Warren Street, Fitzroy Square"; scratched lettering lower left: "Proof"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8115
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
castle | houses | landscape | ruins | sea
Access:
On view
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26138
Export:
XML
IIIF Manifest:
JSON

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)

J.M.W. Turner: Romance & Reality (Yale Center for British Art, 2025-03-29 - 2025-07-27) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]


If you have information about this object that may be of assistance please contact us.