J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours

The drawing was made with the page turned horizontally. As identified by Cecilia Powell,1 it shows Andernach, labelled in the distance on the left, looking north-west down the River Rhine with the ruined Baroque façade of Schloss Friedrichstein (the so-called ‘Teufelshaus’ or Devil’s House), which formerly stood on the east bank near Neuwied, on the right.

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 Andernach views in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under 35 recto (D30524; CCCIII 34). Neuwied is also shown on folio 38 recto (D30530; CCCIII 37); see also the 1817 Waterloo and Rhine and Rhine sketchbooks (respectively Tate D12852, D12854–D12855; Turner Bequest CLX 77a, 78a, 79; D12950–D12951; CLXI 36a, 37), the 1833 Brussels up to Mannheim – Rhine sketchbook (D29632; CCXCVI 18a), and the 1839 Cochem to Coblenz – Home sketchbook (D28610; CCXCI 38). There is an 1817 watercolour, Neuwied and Weissenthurm (Winchester College).4 Another of about 1819 shows Neuwied and Weise Thurn [sic], with Hoche’s Monument, on the Rhine, Looking towards Andernach (National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh);5 it was engraved in 1853 (Tate impression: T06297).