Prints and Drawings Room
View by appointment- Artist
- Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
- Part of
- Lucerne Sketchbook
- Medium
- Watercolour on paper
- Dimensions
- Support: 228 × 325 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
- Reference
- D34963
Turner Bequest CCCXLV 2
Display caption
Turner used this sketchbook on his last trip to Switzerland. He began the book twice, at first making a group of three sky studies, including this one, most probably as he crossed the Channel. Then, once he had reached Lucerne, he painted his sketches of Mount Rigi at the other end of the book. The use of a simple combination of yellow and grey washes effectively recreates the light of dawn, at the moment before sunrise.
Gallery label, September 1995
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