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

This page was used vertically both ways up. Inverted relative to the sketchbook’s foliation, the top view is from the River Rhine, showing and labelling the town of Rüdesheim downstream to the north-west; it is continuous (or effectively so) with that on folio 15 verso opposite (D32571; CCCXXII 16a), where Schloss Johannisberg is also labelled, on the skyline towards the north-east. For other Rüdesheim views and further discussion, see under folio 11 verso (D32563; CCCXXII 12a). Below, the second sketch shows riverside buildings, likely at Rüdesheim or Bingen, a little further downstream on the opposite bank; see under folio 12 verso (D32565; CCCXXII 13a).

Used the other way up, the other half of the page is taken up with overlapping studies of the hulls and rigging of cargo boats, probably observed on the Rhine, albeit not necessarily in the immediate area of the landscape views. As set out in its Introduction, this sketchbook covers Turner’s homeward route from Augsburg north-westwards to Rotterdam (see under folios 1 verso and 14 recto respectively; D32543, D32568; CCCXXII 2a, 15). Travelling back down the familiar river, he worked in somewhat randomly from both ends, interspersing identifiable subjects with less distinctive renderings of towns, castles and the landscape, as well as occasional studies such as these.