Poem of The Epicurean

 JMW Turner provided four vignettes for Thomas Moore’s prose poem The Epicurean, a Tale; and Alciphron, a Poem. Although Turner produced a number of watercolour drawings for The Epicurean, only four designs were engraved for publication. These were all engraved by Edward Goodall and were the last of Turner’s vignettes to be published in his lifetime.

Thomas Moore in the preface to the  illustrated edition of The Epicurean published by John Macrone, London 1839

The idea of calling in the magic pencil of Mr. Turner, to illustrate some of the scenes of the following story, was first suggested by the late Mr. Macrone ... His original wish had been that I should undertake for him some new poem, or story, to be thus embellished by the artist. But other tasks and ties having rendered my compliance with this wish impracticable, he proposed to purchase of me the copyright of the Epicurean for a single ‘illustrated’ edition; and hence the appearance of the work under its present new auspices and form.

Thomas Moore  was an Irish poet, singer and songwriter (1779–1852) who is perhaps best known today for writing the patriotic Irish song 'The Minstrel Boy' and the 'The Last Rose of Summer'.

The Garden The Sterling & Francine Clark Art Institute

The Nile Tate

The Chaplet Tate

The Ring Tate

According to Meredith Gamer at the Tate:

The Epicurean is at once a seductive oriental fantasy and a morality tale, which perhaps accounts for much of its appeal to nineteenth-century audiences. Moore’s story purports to be a translation of an ancient manuscript. It tells of Alciphron, a young, hedonistic Greek, who travels to Alexandria to find the secret of eternal life. There he falls in love with the beautiful Alethe, only to see her die a martyr for her Christian faith.

Three unpublished finished designs for The Epicurean remained in the Turner Bequest.  In these works, the ethereal technique and pastel palette of these works combine with Moore’s fantastical subjects to create images of remarkable delicacy and imagination. Their fine quality led E.T. Cook to include them in his selection of Hidden Treasures of the National Gallery (published 1905).  The author concluded, with mild but rightful indignation, 
‘I cannot conceive why none of these is considered worthy of any better place than a brown-paper parcel in a tin box.’