Basle, part I, plate 5 from "Liber Studiorum"
Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
Engraver Charles Turner 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 Charles Turner here added mezzotint to describe a wooden bridge spanning the Rhine at Basle in Switzerland. Cathedral spires rise above rooftops and the sun breaks through clouds over the river. The letter "A" in the upper margin indicates Turner's category of Architectural landscape.
This image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.
