London from Greenwich, part V, plate 26 from "Liber Studiorum"
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 a vista of London from Greenwich Park. The paired cupolas of the Royal Naval College mark the edge of the Thames, which loops west toward the city where the dome of St. Paul's echoes their forms, both great works by Sir Christopher Wren. At the base of the hill, Inigo Jones's elegantly Vitruvian Queen's House, regarded as the first fully classical building in England, introduces Turner's category of Architectural Landscape, indicated by the letter "A" in the upper margin.
Artwork Details
- Title: London from Greenwich, part V, plate 26 from "Liber Studiorum"
- Series/Portfolio: Liber Studiorum
- Artist: Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London)
- Engraver: Charles Turner (British, Woodstock, Oxfordshire 1774–1857 London)
- Publisher: Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, London 1775–1851 London)
- Date: January 1, 1811
- Medium: Etching and mezzotint; first state of four
- Dimensions: plate: 7 x 10 9/16 in. (17.8 x 26.8 cm)
sheet: 8 1/4 x 11 1/2 in. (21 x 29.2 cm) - Classification: Prints
- Credit Line: Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1928
- Object Number: 28.97.26
- Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints
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