Art Institute of Chicago

The Fifth Plague of Egypt, plate 16 from Liber Studiorum

Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775-1851)

Date

published June 10, 1808

Medium

Mezzotint and etching in brown on ivory wove paper

Culture

England

Department

Prints and Drawings

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

J. M. W. Turner’s paintings epitomized the sublime, a sense of awe-inspiring beauty beyond simple loveliness. His evocative etching and mezzotint print series, the Liber Studiorum (1807–19), was just as influential. Printed in sepia lines and tonal areas evoking Old Master drawing ink and modeling, Turner’s series of 71 prints is an extended ode to the landscape. The letters above each work designate the subject type, including architectural (A), pastoral (P) and elevated pastoral (EP), and historical (H), marine (M), and mountainous (M). Turner’s exhaustive categories inspired John Constable to produce a further-specialized mezzotint series of 22 English landscapes.

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