176 . THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Till the year 1830 all is normal. In 1831 a change in the coloring 

 becomes for the first time perceptible, which gives to the works of 

 Turner a peculiar character not found in any other master. Optically 

 this is caused by an increased intensity of the diffused light proceeding 

 from the most illuminated parts of the landscape. This light forms a 

 haze of a bluish color -which contrasts too much with the surrounding 

 portion in shadow. From the year 1833 this diffusion of light be- 

 comes more and more vertical. It gradually increases during the fol- 

 lowing years. At first it can only be perceived by a careful examina- 

 tion of the picture, but from the year 1839 the regular vertical streaks 

 become apparent to every one. This increases subsequently to such a 

 degree that, when the pictures are closely examined, they appear as if 

 they had been wilfully destroyed by vertical strokes of the brush be- 

 fore they were dry, and it is only from a considerable distance that 

 the object and the meaning of the picture can be comprehended. Dur- 

 ing the last years of Turner's life, this peculiarity became so extreme 

 that his pictures can hardly be understood at all. 



It is a generally-received opinion that Turner adopted a peculiar 

 manner, that he exaggerated it more and more, and that his last works 

 are the result of a deranged intellect. I am convinced of the incor- 

 rectness, I might almost say of the injustice, of this opinion. The 

 word "manner" has a very vague meaning. In general we under- 

 stand by it something which has been arbitrarily assumed by the ar- 

 tist. It may be the result of study, of reflection, of a development of 

 principle, or the consequence of a chance observation, of an experi- 

 ment, or of an occasional success. Nothing of all this applies to what 

 has been called Turner's manner. Nothing in him is arbitrary, as- 

 sumed, or of set purpose. According to my opinion, his manner is 

 exclusively the result of a change in his eyes, which developed itself 

 during the last twenty years of his life. In consequence of it the 

 aspect of Nature gradually changed for him, while he continued in an 

 unconscious, I might almost say in a naive manner, to reproduce what 

 he saw. And he reproduced it so faithfully and accurately, that he 

 enables us distinctly to recognize the nature of the disease of his eyes, 

 to follow its development step by step, and to prove by an optical 

 contrivance the correctness of our diagnosis. By the aid of this con- 

 trivance we can see Nature under the same aspect as he saw and repre- 

 sented it. With the same we can also, as I shall prove to you by an 

 experiment, give to Turner's early pictures the appearance of those of 

 the later period. 



After he had reached the age of fifty-five, the crystalline lenses of 

 Turner's eyes became rather dim, and dispersed the light more strong- 

 ly, and in consequence threw a bluish mist over illuminated objects. 

 This is a pathological increase of an optical effect, the existence of 

 which, even in the normal eye, can be proved by the following experi- 

 ment : 



