Stadtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus (Munich, Germany): Turner at Lenbachhaus Munich
- Artist
- Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
- Medium
- Etching and mezzotint on paper
- Dimensions
- Image: 180 × 260 mm
- Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Presented by A. Acland Allen through the Art Fund 1925
- Reference
- A00942
Display caption
In 1799 Napoleon invaded Egypt, then part of the Ottoman Empire, as a bridgehead to India where he was negotiating with Tipu Sultan, ruler of Mysore. Defeats, uprisings and plague forced the French to abandon Egypt by 1802. Here, Turner draws a parallel between the contemporary situation in Egypt and Biblical plagues, sent by God to punish Egypt for enslaving the Israelites. This print reproduces a painting that is sometimes interpreted as a coded attack on the slave trade. This is unlikely, as its owner William Beckford inherited several Jamaican sugar plantations, laboured by enslaved people.
Gallery label, November 2022
Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you.
Explore
- architecture(30,960)
- townscapes / man-made features(21,603)
-
- townscape, distant(8,109)
- plague(10)
- female(1,681)
- countries and continents(17,390)
-
- Egypt(98)
- Bible: Old Testament(381)
- birth to death(1,472)
-
- death(685)
