Basle (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 5)

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

June 11, 1807 · Etching and mezzotint; first state of six (Finberg) · Drawings and Prints

Basle (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 5) — Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner|Joseph Mallord William Turner

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 wooden bridge spanning the Rhine at Basle in Switzerland. Cathedral spires rise above rooftops and the sun breaks through clouds over the river. The letter "A" in the upper margin indicates Turner's category of Architectural landscape.

Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner|Joseph Mallord William Turner
Date
June 11, 1807
Medium
Etching and mezzotint; first state of six (Finberg)
Department
Drawings and Prints
Credit line
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928

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