East Gate, Winchelsea, Sussex, part XIV, plate 67 from "Liber Studiorum"
Designed and etched by Joseph Mallord William Turner British
Engraver Samuel William Reynolds, the elder 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 Reynolds here added mezzotint to describe sheep being driven through medieval ruins. Established on the Sussex coast by Edward I as a fortified port, Winchelsea had long been separated from the sea, and been abandoned. Sunlit marshland is glimpsed here through the arched gate, with the town's history hinted at by the sailor approaching at left. The picturesque decay and rustic activity led Turner to place the print within his category of Pastoral landscape, indicated by the "P" in the upper margin.
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