Joseph Mallord William Turner

The uppermost sketch may be a swift jotting of Kues, a village which lies on the opposite bank of the Moselle to Bernkastel.1 If this approximation is correct, the large building adjacent to the church is the late Gothic St Nikolaus Hospital (Cusanusstift) which was founded by Nicholas of Cusa in 1458. 2 The sketch below shows Klotten, with the Burg Coraidelstein atop the mount to the right (see also Tate D28294, D28309; Turner Bequest CCLXXXIX 2a, 10). Turner has annotated the drawing ‘Below Coch’, i.e. Cochem.

For further views of Klotten see the Cochem to Coblenz – Home sketchbook (Tate D28550–D28553; Turner Bequest CCXCI 7a–9). For the 1839 gouache drawings see Tate D20237, D28967; Turner Bequest CCXXI D, CCXCII 78.

The rough and swiftly rendered sketch of trees and foliage appear to be a continuation of the view of Oxford on the folio opposite (Tate D28345; Turner Bequest CCLXXXIX 28).