The Fifth Plague of Egypt, part III, plate 16 from "Liber Studiorum"

Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
 Engraved and published by 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 describe a passage from "Exodus" 9. The chapter recounts three of the ten plagues invoked by Moses to persuade Egypt's pharoah to release the Hebrews from bondage. Curiously, the title mentions the fifth plague, directed against domestic animals, but the print focuses on the seventh, an apocalypic storm of hail and fire. The letter "H" in the upper margin indicates to Turner's category of Historical landscape.

The Fifth Plague of Egypt, part III, plate 16 from "Liber Studiorum", Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London), Etching and mezzotint; first state of three

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