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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1836-47 Modern painter > Venice, Austria and Southern Germany ... > Venice; Passau to Würzburg Sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner Passau, ?with the Cathedral beyond the River Inn 1840

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘Passau, ?with the Cathedral beyond the River Inn’ 1840
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 49 Recto:
Passau, ?with the Cathedral beyond the River Inn 1840
D31372
Turner Bequest CCCX 49
Pencil on cream wove paper, 126 x 198 mm
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ‘49’ top right, ascending vertically
Stamped in black ‘CCCX – 49’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
This rather rough sketch, made with the page turned horizontally, has been identified by Cecilia Powell as showing Passau;1 the dome near the centre is likely that of the cathedral, perhaps seen from the south-west across the River Inn. There are clearer views over the river on folios 51 verso and 52 recto (D31377–D31378). The loose overarching shape may represent clouds, or an exaggerated profile of the slopes above the Danube on the far side of the cathedral.
For numerous contemporary views of Passau in this sketchbook and elsewhere, see under folio 48 verso opposite (D31371).

Matthew Imms
September 2018

1
See Powell 1995, p.243.

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘Passau, ?with the Cathedral beyond the River Inn 1840 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, September 2018, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, December 2019, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-passau-with-the-cathedral-beyond-the-river-inn-r1196160, accessed 04 April 2026.