Basle (Liber Studiorum, part I, plate 5)
Medium
Etching and mezzotint; first state of six (Finberg)
Dimensions
plate: 7 1/4 x 10 1/4 in. (18.4 x 26 cm) sheet: 8 1/4 x 11 1/4 in. (21 x 28.6 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
Accession Number
28.97.5
Tags
Art Historical Context
This evocative print, *Basle*, belongs to J.M.W. Turner’s ambitious *Liber Studiorum* series, launched in 1807 to demonstrate the breadth of landscape art. Turner himself etched the outlines, while engraver Charles Turner worked the rich tonal areas in mezzotint, allowing the image to capture the subtle play of light and atmosphere that defined the artist’s Romantic vision. Issued as the fifth plate in Part I, this first state reveals the careful layering of techniques that let Turner translate his painterly effects into print. The scene depicts the Swiss city of Basel along the Rhine, with i...
About the Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner|Charles Turner|Joseph Mallord William Turner · 1775–1851
Joseph Mallord William Turner, born on 23 April 1775 in London's Covent Garden to barber William Turner and Mary Marshall, emerged as a child prodigy amid personal hardships. His mother suffered mental illness and died in Bethlem Hospital in 1804, while his father supported his early sketches by displaying them in his shop. Around age 10, Turner stayed with his uncle Joseph Mallord William Marshal...