Ville de Thun, Switzerland (Liber Studiorum, part XII, plate 59)

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Thomas Hodgetts|Joseph Mallord William Turner

January 1, 1816 · 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 Hodgetts here added mezzotint to describe a a peaceful Swiss lakeside town distinguished by towered buildings on a hill, and a view of distant snowcapped alps. Close at hand, figures wait on a pier for an approaching boat, and Turner applied the letter "A" in the upper margin to indicate his category of Architectural landscape.

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner|Thomas Hodgetts|Joseph Mallord William Turner

Date

January 1, 1816

Medium

Etching and mezzotint; first state of three

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928