Nos.39 and 40 were the first sketchbooks with soft covers that Turner took on a foreign tour, no.39 containing the only coloured of the 1824 tour. That on f.8r shows the view up the Mosel at Trier, with the cathedral on the left and the Roman bridge in the distance, from a viewpoint much favoured in the nineteenth century for the splendid prospect of the city it affords, especially towards evening. The overall mood is one of serenity, as it is also in a similar study of Trier inspired by Turner's visit to the same spot fifteen years later (no.47).
Gallery label, August 2004
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