Joseph Mallord William Turner

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. Finberg noted the River Itz here,1 but Cecilia Powell has fully identified the subject,2 with the Heilig-Kreuz-Kirche, north of central Coburg, on the right, and the regular profile of Schloss Ernsthöhe (later Hohenfels) on the skyline to the west-north-west. The church stands within a bend of the Itz, and the women on the left seem to be standing beside the river, but later trees, houses and other buildings in the immediate vicinity of the church and to the west now preclude a clear view. A third woman on the right appears to be carrying a baby or young child.

For the numerous Coburg views in this sketchbook, see under folio 1 verso (D31278).3