_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg&width=1200)
Union of the Thames and Isis
J. M. W. Turner·1808
Historical Context
Union of the Thames and Isis from 1808 is an allegorical landscape representing the confluence of the Thames and its tributary. The classical personification of rivers reflects Turner's ambition to elevate landscape painting to the status of history painting. Turner's technique evolved from precise topographical watercolor toward atmospheric oil painting of radical freedom; his late works particularly dissolved architecture and nature into pure fields of colored light.
Technical Analysis
Turner combines allegorical figures with a naturalistic river landscape, using warm golden light and careful observation of water effects to unite the mythological subject with observed nature.
Look Closer
- ◆Look for the allegorical figures of the Thames and Isis — the classical river deities that Turner uses to elevate a geographical feature into a mythological landscape.
- ◆Notice the naturalistic river landscape around the allegorical figures — Turner combines classical personifications with genuine observation of the Thames near its source, the Romantic blend of myth and nature.
- ◆Observe the warm golden light Turner applies — giving the river confluence the Claudian warmth of classical landscape even while the subject is essentially English and contemporary.
- ◆Find the compositional balance between the allegorical and the natural — Turner is working to show that English landscape can sustain classical dignity alongside Italian or Flemish painting.
.jpg&width=600)