The Fifth Plague of Egypt

By Kind Permission of a Private Collection

Drawn and etched by Turner. Engraved in mezzotint by Charles Turner. Dated 1808 and published in Part 3 of the Liber Studiorum ( Finberg 16). Category: Historical. (See Forrester, pp.63-64.)

The plate is referred to by Ruskin in PreRaphaelitism (1851) in a discussion of the range of Turner 's art ( Works, 12.369). In The Elements of Drawing (1857), however, it is included in a list of twelve Liber Studiorum subjects which he describes as 'quite useless' ( Works, 15.98n).

AD

J.M.W. Turner 1775-1851
The Fifth Plague of Egypt c.1806-7
Watercolour on off-white wove writing paper, 18x25.3cm
Engraving:
Engraved by C. Turner, 1808
Mezzotint engraving, 18x26cm
Engraved for the Liber Studiorum, part 3
Provenance: Turner Bequest, 1856 (CXVI S)
Further Comments: This work is based on an oil painting of the same title, exhibited in 1802 at the Royal Academy.
Collection: Tate Gallery, London