Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 57.djvu/351

 buried in it. Much of 1816 was spent in the north; he was at Richmond (Yorkshire) in July, probably engaged on those beautiful drawings which he made to illustrate Whitaker's ‘History of Richmondshire’ (published in 1823). He was at Farnley in September. In 1817 he was at Raby (Earl of Darlington's). In 1818 he visited Scotland to illustrate Scott's ‘Provincial Antiquities.’ In 1819 he seems to have paid two visits to the continent, one a short one to the Rhine, whence he brought to Farnley a series of fifty-one sketches in transparent and body colour on tinted paper, executed, it is said, in about a fortnight. They were preserved at Farnley till recently, and were exhibited at the winter exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1889. He afterwards, at the suggestion of Sir Thomas Lawrence, went to Italy for the first time.

From this time dated what Mr. Ruskin calls his second style (1820–1835), when he imitated no one, but aimed at beautiful ideal compositions.

The effect of this visit to Italy was seen in the much greater lightness and brilliancy of his colour. He exhibited little for some years, but he executed the lovely drawings for the ‘Rivers of England’ (published in 1824) and the ‘Ports’ or ‘Harbours of England,’ and some illustrations of Byron (published in 1825); and in 1823 appeared the first of those glorious dreams of Italy which are especially associated with his name—the ‘Bay of Baiæ, with Apollo and the Sibyl’ (now in the National Gallery).

From 1808 to 1826 he had a country residence, first at West End, Upper Mall, Hammersmith, and from 1814 at Solus, or Sandycombe Lodge, which he built on land purchased in 1807 on the road from Twickenham to Isleworth. Both this house and 47 Queen Anne Street West (now 23 Queen Anne Street), where he removed from Harley Street in 1812, were built from his own designs. At Hammersmith and Twickenham he indulged in his favourite sport of fishing, and had his own boat and gig. While at Twickenham, if not before, he became intimate with Henry Scott Trimmer, vicar of Heston, who lived about four miles from Sandycombe Lodge. Trimmer was very fond of art, and had some skill in painting. He tried to teach Turner Latin or Greek, or both, but without success. Turner was on intimate terms with the family, very kind to the children, and wished to marry Trimmer's sister, but was too shy to propose. No doubt he loved the Thames, but his country residences had little effect on his art, and the only picture of this time which was suggested by its locality was the ‘Richmond Hill’ of 1819. He really spent little time at Sandycombe, and it was partly on account of the frequency of his absences that he sold it in 1826. Another reason was that his father was always catching cold from working in the garden. His own health was not good at this time; he was ‘as thin as a hurdle.’ He spent the winter in Queen Anne Street, but the winter was a severe one, and he wrote to his friend Holworthy, ‘Poor Daddy never felt cold so much. I began to think of being truly alone in the world, but I believe the bitterness is past, but has very much shaken, and I am not better for wear.’

For some years after 1825 his exhibited pictures were of little importance. According to Mr. Ruskin they showed a very serious disturbance in temper, but the ‘Cologne’ of 1826 deserves mention not only for its merit, but because it was the occasion of an act of self-denial on Turner's part. It was hung between two portraits by Sir Thomas Lawrence, which it killed by its brilliant colour. Turner dimmed its glory with a wash of lampblack. ‘It will all wash off,’ he said, ‘and Lawrence was so unhappy.’

In 1827 was published the first part of the largest series of prints after Turner's drawings—the ‘England and Wales.’ They were engraved by a band of engravers who, with Turner's assistance, brought the art of engraving landscapes in line to a perfection never before attained. Among them were Goodall, Wallis, Willmore, W. Miller, Brandard, Radcliffe, Jeavons, and W. R. Smith. The work consisted of about a hundred plates published between 1827 and 1838. The drawings were unequal in merit, but generally wonderful in colour and atmospheric effect. They were distinctly ‘Turners,’ poetical compositions of great beauty suggested by the place, and idealising its local characteristics, but paying little regard to literal accuracy. The best of them are greatly prized by collectors, and realise large sums.

In 1828 Turner exhibited his last picture of Carthage, ‘Dido directing the Equipment of the Fleet, or the Morning of the Carthaginian Empire,’ painted for Mr. Broadhurst, and now in the National Gallery. In the autumn he paid his first visit to the south of France, the heat of which ‘almost knocked him up, particularly at Nismes and Avignon.’ He restored himself by bathing at Marseilles, and proceeded along the Riviera to Nice, Genoa, Spezzia, Carrara, and Siena. He was in Rome in October, November, and December, staying at 12 Piazza Mignanelli, whence he sent lively letters to his friends Chantrey and Jones and Sir Thomas Law-