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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1802-18 Academician and professor > Studies from 1802 Continental Tour ... > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Lake Brienz and Ringgenberg Castle c.1809

Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Lake Brienz and Ringgenberg Castle’ c.1809
Lake Brienz and Ringgenberg Castle c.1809
D04896
Turner Bequest LXXX C
Pencil and watercolour with rubbing out on white wove paper, 296 x 440 mm (irregular)
Stamped in black ‘LXXX C’ bottom right
Blind-stamped with the Turner Bequest monogram towards bottom right
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This colour study is based on a monochrome drawing from the Grenoble sketchbook that Turner used while travelling in 1802 (Tate D04543; Turner Bequest LXXIV 50). The view is of Lake Brienz, looking westwards towards Unterseen and Ringgenberg Castle, silhouetted against evening sun. It was made in preparation for a watercolour for Thomas Wright of Upton (Bowood Collection).1
See Tate D04898; Turner Bequest LXXX E for another colour study of the same lake by moonlight, developed in a finished version for Walter Fawkes.
1
Wilton 1979 p.344 no.391.
Verso:
Blank
Technical notes:
The paper is without watermark. The image is reduced somewhat by ruled edges, 280 x 394 mm, perhaps indicating a smaller size for a finished version, or the window of a mount.

David Blayney Brown
January 2012

How to cite

David Blayney Brown, ‘Lake Brienz and Ringgenberg Castle c.1809’, catalogue entry, January 2012, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, September 2014, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/lake-brienz-and-ringgenberg-castle-r1147457, accessed 15 September 2026.