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.
after Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Temptation on the Pinnacle, engraved by F. Bacon published 1835
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
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
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Mackerel on a Beach c.1835
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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, Sketches and Inscriptions in a Copy of Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Château Gaillard from the South (Vignette) c.1833
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Wreck Buoy, Gurnet, Dogfish, and Plaice c.1835
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Vignette of A Tempest - Voyage of Columbus 1831
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Sky for ‘The Nile’ c.1837–8
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for ‘A Tempest’, Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study for ‘The Expulsion from Paradise’, for Milton’s ‘Poetical Works’ c.1834
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Vignette Study for Moore’s ‘The Epicurean’; Descent into the Well c.1837–8
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Tivoli, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
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, St. Herbert’s Chapel, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Loch Lomond, 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, St Julienne’s Chapel, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, A Tempest - Voyage of Columbus, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Lobsters on the Beach c.1835
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Cod 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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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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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Hannibal Passing the Alps, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Forum, for Rogers’s ‘Italy’ c.1826–7
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artworks in Experiments on Paper
Joseph Mallord William Turner, St Pierre’s Cottage, 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, 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, A Village-Fair, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’ c.1830–2
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Art in this room
after Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Temptation on the Pinnacle, engraved by F. Bacon
published 1835
Joseph Mallord William Turner
The Temptation on the Pinnacle
c.1834
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Study for Unidentified Vignettes: Mackerel on a Beach
c.1835
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Keswick Lake, for Rogers’s ‘Poems’
c.1830–2
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Sketches and Inscriptions in a Copy of Rogers’s ‘Poems’
c.1830–2
Joseph Mallord William Turner
Château Gaillard from the South (Vignette)
c.1833
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