By Kind Permission of Lancaster University Library
By Kind Permission of Lancaster University Library
Turner 's The Deluge, oil on canvas, c.1805, Turner Bequest, Tate Britain ( Wilton P55). The engraving referred to by Ruskin was one of four large mezzotints (in this case by J.P. Quilley, Rawlinson 794) made after individual paintings in 1828-30. It has been plausibly suggested that The Deluge, which was the first, was chosen in response to the popularity of a large picture of the subject painted by John Martin two years before ( Herrmann, Turner Prints, 162). Ruskin rightly describes the engraving as rare, since it was not commercially published.
J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851
The Deluge ?by 1805
Oil on canvas, 14.3x23.5cm
Exhibitions: Turner's Gallery ?1805; ?RA 1813; RA 1974 (81)
Engraving:
Engraved by J.P. Quilley, 1828
Mezzotint engraving, 37.9x58.1cm
Further Comments: The engraving for 'The Deluge' was never published.
Collection: Tate Gallery, London