Jason (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 6)

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

June 11, 1807 · Etching and mezzotint; first state of five · 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 the mythical Greek hero Jason scaling a fallen tree to reach the dragon that guards the golden fleece. The image likely relies on a version of the story found in Apollonius Rhodius's "Argonautics," and the letter "H" in the upper margin indicates Turner's category of Historical landscape.

Artist

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

Date

June 11, 1807

Medium

Etching and mezzotint; first state of five

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928