Joseph Mallord William Turner

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. As identified by Cecilia Powell,1 it focuses on the silhouette of the ruins of Burg Rheinfels, since restored, high above the west bank of the River Rhine north-west of Sankt Goar.

Powell has noted that Turner neared the end of this tour following ‘the familiar route of the Rhine between Mainz and Cologne. He almost certainly travelled by steamer, ... sketching most of the well-known sights perfunctorily as he passed.’2 Given that this sketchbook was used in reverse of its subsequent foliation, she has specified the overall range of this phase as ‘TB CCCIII 68v–20v; 11r’,3 indicating folios 12 recto and 21 verso–69 verso (D30479, D30497–D30592; Turner Bequest CCCIII 20a–68a); see this book’s Introduction for the full itinerary of this part of the journey.

For other Burg Rheinfels views in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 49 recto (D30552; CCCIII 48).