The Fifth Plague of Egypt - YCBA Collections Search

Etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851, British, The Fifth Plague of Egypt, 1808

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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:

The Fifth Plague of Egypt

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: 8 × 11 1/8 inches (20.3 × 28.3 cm), Image: 7 1/8 × 10 1/8 inches (18.1 × 25.7 cm), Mount: 10 3/4 × 15 inches (27.3 × 38.1 cm)

Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Inscribed on mount in graphite, lower left: "16"; lower right: "2nd State"; inscribed on verso in graphite, lower left: "<...> 6 by 5"; inscribed on back of mount in graphite, lower center: "Second State"; lower right: "ZW Aug 1942"

Collector’s mark: Charles J. Palmer (Lugt 294); collector’s mark: G. E. Blood (Lugt 265c)

Lettered above image: "H"; below image: "Drawn & Etched by J.M.W.Turner Esqr. R.A.P.P. | Engraved by C.Turner | The 5th Plague of Egypt the Picture late in the possession of W.Beckford Esqr. | London, Published June 10, 1808, by C.Turner No.50, Warren Street, Ftizroy Square"

Credit Line:

Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection

Copyright Status:

Public Domain

Accession Number:

B1977.14.8118

Classification:

Prints

Collection:

Prints and Drawings

Subject Terms:

Associated Places:

Egypt

Access:

On view

Link:

https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:26141

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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)

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

Pearls to Pyramids: British Visual Culture and the Levant, 1600–1830 (Yale Center for British Art, 2008-02-07 - 2008-04-28) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Nobleness and Grandeur - Forging Historical Landscape in Britain, 1760 - 1850 (Yale Center for British Art, 2005-01-27 - 2005-04-24) [YCBA Objects in the Exhibition] [Exhibition Description]

Egypt - The Legacy (Sarah Lawrence College Art Gallery, 1990-02-13 - 1990-04-22) [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]

Pearls to pyramids : British visual culture and the Levant, 1600-1830 [wall labels], Yale Center for British Art, 2008, p. 34, V 2576 (YCBA) [YCBA]

Pearls to pyramids : British visual culture and the Levant, 1600-1830, , Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, 2008, p. 16, V1880 [ORBIS]

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