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

Rendered in agile line, these four small sketches show the towns of Klotten and Pommern which neighbour each other on the banks of the Moselle, approximately two kilometres upstream from Tries-Karden. The uppermost sketch is a distant view of Pommern, Turner roughly suggesting trees and landmarks in swift vertical line. Beneath it is a more detailed picture of the town, encompassing Saint Stephen’s Parish Church, which dates to 1264, and a towering hip-roofed building to its right.1 The same building appears in the penultimate sketch, this time from a different perspective and situated to the left of St Stephen’s. Turner has annotated the drawing ‘Clot’ to mark out the respective location of Klotten to Pommern. The final sketch shows Pommern from the distance and has the inscription ‘Triers’ beneath it, presumably a reference to the neighbouring town of ‘Treis’.