Mythology, APOLLO & DAPHNE Greek Temples, Old 1862 Landscape Art Print Engraving

Description: APOLLO AND DAPHNE IN THE VALE OF TEMPE Artist: J. M. W. Turner ____________ Engraver: E. Brandard Note: the title in the table above is printed below the engraving CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE 19th CENTURY ANTIQUE PRINTS LIKE THIS ONE!! PRINT DATE: This lithograph was printed in 1862; it is not a modern reproduction in any way. PRINT SIZE: Overall print size is 8 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches including white borders, actual scene is 5 1/2 inches by 10 1/2 inches. PRINT CONDITION: Condition is excellent. Bright and clean. Blank on reverse. Paper is quality woven rag stock paper. SHIPPING: Buyer to pay shipping, domestic orders receives priority mail, international orders receive regular air mail unless otherwise asked for. Please allow time for personal check to clear. We take a variety of payment options, more payment details will be in our email after auction close. We pack properly to protect your item! FROM THE ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: This is one of the few pictures which Turner painted on panel, and, considering its size (about 3.5 feet by 6.5), is of unusually large dimensions for a painting on wood; at least, for an easel picture by an English artist. It was exhibited by the Academy in 1837, under the title of Story of Apollo and Daphne (Ovid's Metamorphoses), with the following quotation from the poet's writings appended:- "Sure is my bow, unerring is my dart; But, ah! more deadly his who pierced my heart. As when the impatient greyhound, slipt from far, Bounds o'er the glebe to course the fearful hare, She in her speed does all her safety lay, And he with double speed pursues the prey." Turner, as was his frequent custom, has merely employed the mythological story as a kind of introduction to a very beautiful ideal representation of Grecian scenery. The Vale of Tempe was considered by the old Greeks as the most lovely spot in their country; and it has always borne this character, so much so as to cause travellers and writers to designate other beautiful localities by this title. The valley is a narrow defile in Thessaly, extending a length of about five miles, between Mount Olympus on the north, and Mount Ossa on the south. Through it flows the river Peneus. The ground is rocky, and the gorge is so contracted in some places that there is only room for the stream and a caravan to travel side by side. Dr. Wordsworth, in his admirable descriptive account of Greece, says:- The prominent features of Tempo have a stern and severe aspect. The rocks which wall in the valley on either side are lofty in size, abrupt in form, in colour grey and sombre. The amenity of this celebrated glen does not consist, if we may so say, in the walls of this natural corridor, but in its pavement. Let us pursue this comparison. It cannot boast of possessing any mural arabesques or frescoes, but it is inlaid with flowers, and adorned, as it were, with a tessellated floor. In this mosaic-more beautiful than that which may be seen, representing the Nile and its living and inanimate scenery, in the Temple of Fortune at Praeneste-the river Peneus runs in a gentle stream, stimulated here and there by eager springs, bubbling from the earth by its side. ....... Growing in the river, and spreading their broad branches and thick foliage over its waters, are shady plane-trees, around whose boughs twine clusters of ivy, and tendrils of the wild vine.'' This description accords but little with Turner's imaginative view. On each side we certainly see lofty mountains rising, which may pass for those of Oesa and Olympus, but there is in them, and, indeed, in the entire range, nothing of a severe and stern aspect. Their sides are very generally clothed with rich foliage; the Peneus winds its way in graceful curves through the valley, but the ground is flat for a considerable distance on each side, and is, here and there, studded with temples and other edifices. To the right, two mountain torrents sweep down from the heights, widening towards the case into broad falls, which, when they reach the ground, divide themselves into two minor streams, one finding its way into the river behind the high bank and clump of trees, the other gleaming like a silver thread between the trees and rocks. Apollo and Daphne are the two figures walking together in the foreground of the picture. In front of them is the greyhound giving chase to the hare. Seated on the grass, or walking about, are other figures; all aiding to give animation to a composition rich and serene in aspect. The story of Apollo and his companion is, that the former, elated with his victory over the huge dragon, the Python, ridiculed the pigmy bow and arrows of the boy Cupid, who thereupon shot a golden arrow of love into the heart of Apollo, and a leaden one of aversion into that of Daphne, with whom he was enamoured. As a consequence, the maiden resisted his importunities, and, fleeing from them, was turned into a laurel by her mother Terra, just as Apollo had overtaken her. This symbolised by the nound and hare. The picture is in the National Gallery. BIOGRAPHY OF ARTIST: Joseph Mallord William Turner, (1775-1851) English landscape painter, b. London. Turner was the foremost English romantic painter and the most original of English landscape artists. He received almost no general education but at 14 was already a student at the Royal Academy of Arts and three years later was making topographical drawings for magazines. In 1791 for the first time he exhibited two watercolors at the Royal Academy. In the following 10 years he exhibited regularly, was elected a member (1802), and was made professor of perspective (1807). By 1799 the sale of his work had freed him from drudgery and he devoted himself to the visionary interpretations of landscape for which he became famous. In 1802 he made a trip to the Continent, where he painted his famous Calais Pier(National Gall., London). From then on he traveled constantly in England or abroad, making innumerable direct sketches from which he drew material for his studio paintings in oil and watercolor. Turner showed a remarkable ability to distill the best from the tradition of landscape painting. Influence of the Dutch masters is apparent in his Sun Rising through Vapor(National Gall., London). In the vein of the French classical landscape painter, Claude Lorrain, he produced the Liber Studiorum(1807-19), 70 drawings that were later reproduced by engraving under Turner's supervision. Among the paintings evocative of Claude's style are his Dido Building Carthage(National Gall., London) and Crossing the Brook(Tate Gall., London). Despite his early and continued success Turner lived the life of a recluse. As his fame grew he maintained a large gallery in London for exhibition of his work, but continued to live an obscure existence with his old father. His painting became increasingly abstract as he strove to portray light, space, and the elemental forces of nature. Characteristic of his later period are his paintings The Fighting Téméraireand Rain, Steam, and Speed(both: National Gall., London). His late Venetian works, which describe atmospheric effects with brighter colors, include The Grand Canal(Metropolitan Mus.) and Approach to Venice(National Gall., Washington, D.C.). Turner encountered violent criticism as his style became increasingly free, but he was passionately defended by Sir Thomas Lawrence and the youthful Ruskin. His will, which was under litigation for many years, left more than 19,000 watercolors, drawings, and oils to the nation. Most of these works are in the National Gallery and the Tate Gallery, London. Many of Turner's oils have deteriorated badly. In watercolor he is unsurpassed. Please note: the terms used in our auctions for engraving, etching, lithograph, plate, photogravure etc. are ALL prints on paper, and NOT blocks of steel or wood or any other material. "ENGRAVINGS", the term commonly used for these paper prints, were the most common method in the 1700s and 1800s for illustrating old books, and these paper prints or "engravings" were created by the intaglio process of etching the negative of the image into a block of steel, copper, wood etc, and then when inked and pressed onto paper, a print image was created. These prints or engravings were usually inserted into books, although many were also printed and issued as loose stand alone lithographs. They often had a tissue guard or onion skin frontis to protect them from transferring their ink to the opposite page and were usually on much thicker quality woven rag stock paper than the regular prints. So this auction is for an antique paper print(s), probably from an old book, of very high quality and usually on very thick rag stock paper. A RARE FIND! AND GREAT DECORATION FOR YOUR OFFICE OR HOME WALL. Powered by eBay Turbo ListerThe free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items.

Price: 6.99 USD

Location: New Providence, New Jersey

End Time: 2025-01-14T18:30:11.000Z

Shipping Cost: 7.95 USD