The Fifth Plague of Egypt (Liber Studiorum, part III, plate 16)

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner

June 10, 1808 · Etching and mezzotint; first state of three · 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 passage from "Exodus" 9. The chapter recounts three of the ten plagues invoked by Moses to persuade Egypt's pharoah to release the Hebrews from bondage. Curiously, the title mentions the fifth plague, directed against domestic animals, but the print focuses on the seventh, an apocalypic storm of hail and fire. The letter "H" in the upper margin indicates to Turner's category of Historical landscape.

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner

Date

June 10, 1808

Medium

Etching and mezzotint; first state of three

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928