Description
Solitude, or The Reading Magdalen shows a loosely clad woman reading in the shade as the sun sinks between trees near a castle by the sea. J. M. W. Turner gives the setting traditionally called Solitude or The Reading Magdalen an intimate human focus before a wider evening landscape. The reader’s identification as Mary Magdalen remains possible rather than certain, allowing her absorbed activity to carry the immediate encounter.
Issued in 1814 for Liber Studiorum, the etching and mezzotint was designed and etched by J. M. W. Turner, with William Say developing the tone. The shadowed reading figure contrasts with the more open distance, joining inward attention with a landscape extending beyond her. The print makes solitude a relationship between person and place, letting the quiet act and sinking light retain their different scales of emphasis.
Read our guide to giclée prints or browse the J. M. W. Turner collection.
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