Joseph Mallord William Turner

The Niederhaus, Passau, above the River Ilz, with the Confluence and the Altstadt Beyond

1840

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In Tate Britain

Prints and Drawings Room

View by appointment
Artist
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Part of
Venice; Passau to Würzburg Sketchbook
Medium
Graphite on paper
Dimensions
Support: 126 × 198 mm
Collection
Tate
Acquisition
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
Reference
D31382
Turner Bequest CCCX 54

Catalogue entry

With the page turned horizontally, the most distinctive element of this rapid study is Passau’s Niederhaus fortress, as identified by Cecilia Powell. Its tower and keep are shown to the south to the right of the centre, with the beginnings of the walls snaking up the hillside to the Oberhaus on the right. The complex overlooks the mouth of the River Ilz in the foreground, where two or three small boats are moored. Beyond the tower’s bastion and the Ilzstadt houses on the left, buildings towards the eastern tip of the Altstadt peninsula overlook the Ilz’s confluence with the Danube.
For numerous contemporary views of Passau in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 48 verso (D31371).

Matthew Imms
September 2018

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