Rispah, 2nd Book of Samuel, Chapter 21, part IX, plate 46 from "Liber Studiorum"

Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
 Engraver Robert Dunkarton British
 Publisher Joseph Mallord William Turner British

Not on view

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 Dunkarton here added mezzotint to describe a gruesome Old Testament subject. After the death of King Saul, his sons by his concubine Rizpah were executed by the Gibeonites, and left unburied. Their mother here protects the corpses, using a torch to ward off an approaching lion at night. The letter "H" in upper margin indicates Turner's category of Historical landscape.

Rispah, 2nd Book of Samuel, Chapter 21, part IX, plate 46 from "Liber Studiorum", Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London), Etching and mezzotint; first state of four

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