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Creator:
Print made by Thomas Goff Lupton, 1791–1873
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, 1775–1851
Title:
Procris and Cephalus
Part Of:

Collective Title: Liber Studiorum

Date:
1864
Materials & Techniques:
Etching and mezzotint, printed in brown ink; finished state on medium, slightly textured, cream laid paper
Dimensions:
Sheet: 13 3/8 × 18 inches (34 × 45.7 cm), Plate: 8 1/4 × 11 1/2 inches (21 × 29.2 cm), Image: 7 1/4 × 10 3/8 inches (18.4 × 26.4 cm)
Inscription(s)/Marks/Lettering:

Lettered above image: "H.M."; scratched lettering below image: "J.M.W.Turner | Thos. Lupton | 1864 | Procris and Cephalus | Proof"

Credit Line:
Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection
Copyright Status:
Public Domain
Accession Number:
B1977.14.8213
Classification:
Prints
Collection:
Prints and Drawings
Subject Terms:
arrow | bow | Cephalus inadvertently kills Procris | death | dog | foliage | landscape | literary theme | love-affairs of Cephalus | man | Metamorphoses | mourning | mourning of Procris | path | quiver | religious and mythological subject | tree | woman | woods
Associated People:
Cephalus
Procris
Access:
Accessible in the Study Room [Request]
Link:
https://collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:30689
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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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