Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Forum, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7. Tate.
9 rooms in JMW Turner
This room presents a selection of Turner’s ‘vignettes’, small watercolours made as illustrations for books
Between 1830 and 1839 Turner made over 150 of these small scenes. The word ‘vignette’ comes from the term ‘little vine’, a reference to decorative vine-like designs in books. By the 19th century, ‘vignette’ had come to mean an illustration that had no border or hard edges.
Turner’s vignettes were mostly made for books written by leading poets of his day, including Lord Byron and Sir Walter Scott. Publishers were guaranteed good sales if Turner’s name was on the cover of the book. For Turner, it was an opportunity to boost his fame and relevance. The illustrated books enabled thousands of people to encounter Turner’s work without travelling to an exhibition to see his paintings.
A lover of literature who also wrote his own poetry, Turner clearly enjoyed the challenge of illustrating texts. Although they are small, the vignettes show Turner’s creative and technical skills in full. He conjures the same dramatic effects seen in his large-scale oil paintings: moonlight, sunrise, storms, the haze of snow. He gives us elaborate compositions, presenting vast, expansive spaces in miniature. Turner used a tiny brush made of a single squirrel hair to paint the fine details, requiring immense skill and control.
Highly skilled engravers had the job of transforming these intricate watercolours into monochrome prints. They used sharp tools to cut Turner’s design into a steel plate, then applied ink to the plate to print the image onto paper. Turner closely supervised their work, directing them to make changes so that their prints more closely matched his original vision.
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Sky for ‘The Nile’ c.1837–8
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Descent into the Well c.1837–8
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Perugia, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Hannibal Passing the Alps, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Forum, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Traitor’s Gate, Tower of London, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Loch Lomond, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, St Pierre’s Cottage, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Valombrè, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, A Tempest - Voyage of Columbus, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Mackerel on a Beach c.1835
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Lobsters on the Beach c.1835
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study; Sea and Sun c.1826–36
During the 1830s Turner collaborated with the poet Samuel Rogers to provide illustrations for a volume of poems, a number of which had nautical themes. The designs, such as Tornaro, were highly finished and detailed watercolours in vignette form (small-scale images with no defined border). Nevertheless the emphasis on the effects of colour and light on the sea and sky owe much to Turner’s experimental, loose studies.
Gallery label, April 2005
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for ‘A Tempest’, Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study of a Temple, with Rainbow, possibly for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’ c.1835–8
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Alciphron’s Swoon c.1837
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Bay of Naples, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, A Villa. Moon-Light (A Villa on the Night of a Festa di Ballo), for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Tivoli, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Tornaro, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
Turner’s watercolour for Tornaro was sensitively translated into black lines and engraved on steel by Robert Wallis. The engraving accompanied the following lines:
‘The shepherd on Tornaro’s misty brow,
And the swart seamen, sailing far below,
Not undelighted watch the morning ray
Purpling the orient - till it breaks away,
And burns and blazes into glorious day!’
John Ruskin described the prints in Rogers’s Poems as ‘the loveliest engravings ever produced by the pure line’.
Gallery label, July 2008
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, St. Herbert’s Chapel, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Keswick Lake, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Venice, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, A Hurricane in the Desert (The Simoom), for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Evening (Datur Hora Quieti), for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
The view depicted here has so far not been identified, and may well be fanciful, for the subject is really concerned with the mood associated with a specific time of day. Turner's title invokes the early evening when the horses are liberated from the plough and the shadows begin to lengthen.
Gallery label, September 1995
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Sketches and Inscriptions in a Copy of Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Cod on the Beach c.1835
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after Joseph Mallord William Turner, Camp Hill, Hastings, engraved by Edward Goodall c.1836
A poet himself, albeit of somewhat dubious talent, Turner responded well to commissions for illustrations of verse, such as the poetical works of Thomas Campbell. In this small vignette Turner portrays Camp Hill near Hastings, on the night before the famous battle in 1066. This early proof bears Turner's (almost illegible) handwritten pencil notes instructing the engraver Edward Goodall. Turner warns that the foreground shadows are too strong and he indicates that the rays of the moon should become more pointed and starlike.
Gallery label, September 2004
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after Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Temptation on the Pinnacle, engraved by F. Bacon published 1835
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Temptation on the Pinnacle c.1834
In addition to three designs for 'Paradise Lost' (see no.54), Turner contributed two episodes from 'Paradise Regained' for Macrone's 1835 edition of Milton's 'Poetical Works'. This vignette shows the third and final temptation endured by Christ in the wilderness, when challenged by Satan to throw himself down from the highest pinnacle of the Temple in Jerusalem. Turner depicts the moment of Christ's triumph over Satan who can be seen hurling himself away from the scene in anger and frustration. This new acquisition fills an important gap in the Gallery's representation of the later period of Turner's involvement in book illustration.
Gallery label, February 1992
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Art in this room
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Sky for ‘The Nile’
c.1837–8
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Descent into the Well
c.1837–8
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Perugia, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’
c.1826–7
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Hannibal Passing the Alps, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’
c.1826–7
Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Forum, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’
c.1826–7
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Traitor’s Gate, Tower of London, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’
c.1830–2
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