Painting study · Oil painting
Queen Mab's Caveafter 1846 · Study 1916.1036
Joseph Mallord William Turner (British, 1775–1851)
after 1846
Recorded as oil on fabric, this horizontal work measures 89.5 × 73 cm using the museum’s unframed dimensions. Explore the museum’s context and compare the format with a wall of your choice.
Museum collection reference. This work is not offered for sale by Physical Art For Crypto. Museum attribution does not imply a partnership or endorsement.
Context from the museum
This work is a reduced copy of a painting first exhibited by Turner at the British Institution in 1846 that passed, with the rest of his immense bequest to the nation, into the collections of the National Gallery and finally, in 1954, the Tate Gallery. Several lines from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Turner's manuscript poem "Fallacies of Hope" were appended to the title in the British Institution catalogue, but they did little to explicate the nearly unintelligible concoction of fairies and Welsh ruins that make up this composition. Copies of Queen Mab's Cave by anonymous artists are abundant.
Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.
A detail to notice
Queen Mab is a miniature fairy from English folklore who inspires dreams and plays pranks on people during the night. Shakespeare refers to her in both Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream ,
Observation supplied by the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Read the dimensions before the image
The selected unframed measurement for Queen Mab's Cave is 89.5 cm wide and 73 cm high, equivalent to approximately 35.2 × 28.7 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 1.23:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.65 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.
On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 29.8% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 105.3 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.
Questions to bring to your own collection
With Queen Mab's Cave in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on fabric, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.
- Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
- Would a 89.5 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
- What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?
Explore physical scale
How large would this format feel on your wall?
Use this museum work’s recorded format as a reference. Adjust a blank wall and optional frame allowance to compare proportions. The museum painting is an educational reference and is not for sale here.
Calculation: outside width = recorded width + twice your frame allowance. This is a proportion study, not an installation assessment. It excludes furniture, hardware, load capacity, depth and delivery clearance. The display image may include margins absent from the recorded measurement.
Compare formats with the studio collection
These Lei-Kol works have the closest width-to-height ratios in the current catalog. This is a geometry comparison, not a claim of artistic similarity, equivalent value, or association with the museum artist.
| Painting | Width × height | Format ratio | USD catalog price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bipolar | 60 × 48 in | 1.25:1 | $3,499 |
| Brick and Mortar | 60 × 48 in | 1.25:1 | $3,499 |
| Dominion | 60 × 48 in | 1.25:1 | $3,499 |
Availability and delivery costs must be confirmed for the individual order.
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