The Castle above the Meadows, part II, plate 8 from "Liber Studiorum"

Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
 Engraver Charles 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 Charles Turner here added mezzotint to detail peaceful meadows near a ruined castle on a rocky hill, with the foreground enlivened by boy piping near cows. Published states of the print include the letters "EP" in the upper margin, applied by Turner to landscapes within the set that echo the Arcadian sensibility of Claude and likely standing for Elevated Pastoral. They have not yet been added to this early engraver's proof.

The Castle above the Meadows, part II, plate 8 from "Liber Studiorum", Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London), Etching and mezzotint; engravers proof b, before first state of four (Finberg)

Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Open Access

As part of the Met's Open Access policy, you can freely copy, modify and distribute this image, even for commercial purposes.

API

Public domain data for this object can also be accessed using the Met's Open Access API.

The Castle above the Meadows, part II, plate 8 from
The Castle above the Meadows, part II, plate 8 from

This artwork is meant to be viewed from right to left. Scroll left to view more.