Skip to Content
Today Open today 10–11 members | 11–8 public

  • Mon 11–5
  • Tue–Wed Closed
  • Thu 11–8
  • Fri–Sun 11–5
  • The first hour of every day, 10–11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

Little Devil's Bridge, plate 19 from Liber Studiorum

A work made of mezzotint and etching in brown on ivory wove paper.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

Image actions

  • A work made of mezzotint and etching in brown on ivory wove paper.

Date:

published March 29, 1809

Artist:

Joseph Mallord William Turner (English, 1775-1851)
engraved by Charles Turner (English, 1773–1857)

About this artwork

J. M. W. Turner is known primarily as a painter, but demonstrated his passion for landscape through printmaking in this mezzotint, which comes from a series of 71 prints called Liber Studiorum (Book of Studies). Turner categorized the types of landscape with a lettering system at the top of each sheet: A (Architectural), H (Historical), M (Marine or Mountainous), P (Pastoral), and the more obscure EP (Epic Pastoral). The play of light and shade on the water, mountains, fields, and distant views exemplifies Turner’s approach to landscape as an emotive interpretation of reality rather than a topographically accurate one. He chose to use mezzotint, an engraving process that creates tonal gradations similar to the effects of oil painting, to emphasize these light and dark effects.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Prints and Drawings

Artist

Joseph Mallord William Turner

Title

Little Devil's Bridge, plate 19 from Liber Studiorum

Place

England (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Published 1809

Medium

Mezzotint and etching in brown on ivory wove paper

Dimensions

Image: 17.8 × 25.9 cm (7 1/16 × 10 1/4 in.); Plate: 20.9 × 28.9 cm (8 1/4 × 11 7/16 in.); Sheet: 29.9 × 43.5 cm (11 13/16 × 17 3/16 in.)

Credit Line

The Joseph Brooks Fair Collection

Reference Number

1915.824

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/95396/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

Share

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.
Learn more

Image actions

Share

Suggested Terms