The Woman and Tambourine (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 3)

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner|Joseph Mallord William Turner

June 11, 1807 · Etching and mezzotint; third state of four · Drawings and Prints

Turner distilled his ideas about landscape In "Liber Studiorum" (Latin for Book of Studies), a series of seventy prints plus a frontispiece published between 1807 and 1819. To establish the compositions, he made brown watercolor drawings, then etched outlines onto copper plates. Professional engravers usually developed the tone under Turner's direction, and Charles Turner here added mezzotint to describe a classical vista distinguished by a broad river and high arched bridge, whose center has collapsed. In the foreground, a standing tambourine player entertains seated figures, one of whom may be Pallas Athena. The letters "EP" in the upper margin likely stand for Elevated Pastoral, and were applied by Turner to landscapes within the set that echo the Arcadian sensibility of Claude.

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner|Joseph Mallord William Turner

Date

June 11, 1807

Medium

Etching and mezzotint; third state of four

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928