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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:
Lake of Thun, Switzerland
Additional Title(s):
Lac du Thun
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 × 16 1/8 inches (27.9 × 41 cm), Plate: 8 1/4 × 11 3/8 inches (21 × 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: "15 I"; lower right: "Dup I"; inscribed on verso in graphite, upper left: "CW 49"; lower center: "Cotswold Gallery, 1924, ex G.E.Blood"

Collector’s mark: G. E. Blood (Lugt 265c)

Lettered above image: "M"; lower left:"Drawn & Etch'd by J.M.W.Turner Esqr. R.A. P.P. | Engraved by C. Turner | LAKE OF THUN, SWISS. | London, Published June 10, 1808 by C.Turner No. 50 Warren Street Fitzroy Square"; scratched letters, lower left: "Proof"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8117
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
landscape | lightning | seascape
Associated Places:
Lake Thun | Switzerland
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26140
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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)

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

Turner and the Sublime (British Museum, 1981-05-15 - 1981-09-20) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Turner and the Sublime (Yale Center for British Art, 1981-02-11 - 1981-04-19) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Turner and the Sublime (Art Gallery of Ontario, 1980-11-01 - 1981-01-04) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition]

Eric M. Lee, Translations : Turner and printmaking, Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 1993, p. 15, no. 18, NJ18 .T85 L44 1993 (YCBA) [YCBA]


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