Joseph Mallord William Turner

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. Tentatively identified by Finberg, albeit slightly idiosyncratically as nearby ‘K[ö]nigswinter’,1 and confirmed by Cecilia Powell,2 it shows the towering Drachenfels hill and the ruins of Burg Drachenfels on the east bank of the Rhine, looking north-west down the river. There is a similar view on folio 24 verso opposite (D30503; Turner Bequest CCCIII 23a).

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.’3 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’,4 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 Drachenfels views in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 23 recto (D30500; CCCIII 22).