Gainsborough to Ruskin

In 1838, when he was almost fifty, William Turner made his first trip to Scotland. Ruskin observed that one of his Scottish landscapes was "full of truth in its far-off Highland hills, and glowing sky, and low floating mists," very much like the present drawing.

This drawing is the first of a series of twelve watercolors executed by Blake around 1816–20 as illustrations to L'Allegro and Il Penseroso, two poems by John Milton (1608–1674), the Romantics' favorite poet. Blake accompanied each watercolor with a transcription of Milton's text as well as an interpretation of the imagery.