The Bridge in Middle Distance (Liber Studiorum, part III, plate 13)

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner

June 10, 1808 · Etching, aquatint and mezzotint; first state of five (Finberg) · 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 aquatint and mezzotint to describe a broad river spanned by a long, multi-arched classical bridge. Tall trees screen the setting sun as two women in the foreground listen to a pipe player. 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

Date

June 10, 1808

Medium

Etching, aquatint and mezzotint; first state of five (Finberg)

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928