The Blue Rigi (c.1845,...

The Blue Rigi (c.1845, 42x68cm). This is one of several masterpieces painted after Turner's last visit to the Alps in 1844. The peaceful scene actually rings with a hunter's shot — from the hunting boat at right, scattering the water birds at lower left — inserted as a synesthesic accent to the éclat of the rising sun. This transcendentally luminous image of the Kulm peak and its reflecting Lake Lucerne is a beautiful example of Turner's subtle method of building up color into a prismatic haze.