J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

The principal drawing running horizontally across the page shows the town of Alf where the River Alf, or Alfbach, empties into the Moselle. The tributary is seen here, spanned by a wooden bridge and next to which Turner has inscribed ‘wood’. In the distance, rendered in faint line, is the ruined medieval tower of the Burg Arras, situated on a knoll commanding the valleys of the Alf and another stream, the Uess.1 The figures in the foreground, seen sailing, constructing boats and transporting logs, are repeated in the gouache, pen and ink, and watercolour drawing upon which this sketch and two others are based (Tate D28373, D28374; Turner Bequest CCXC 12, 12a).2

With the sketchbook orientated in accordance with the foliation but turned upside down, there is a lightly rendered sketch showing cliffs on the Moselle. This has been annotated with the letter ‘M’ and ‘St Nicolo’.