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

ISBN 978-1-84976-386-8
J.M.W. Turner > 1830-35 Annual tourist > Southern Germany, Austria and Venice ... > Rotterdam and Rhine sketchbook > Artwork

Joseph Mallord William Turner The Basilica of St Quirinus, Neuss, from the River Rhine 1833

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Joseph Mallord William Turner, ‘The Basilica of St Quirinus, Neuss, from the River Rhine’ 1833
Joseph Mallord William Turner 1775–1851
Folio 30 Recto:
The Basilica of St Quirinus, Neuss, from the River Rhine 1833
D32599
Turner Bequest CCCXXII 31
Pencil on white laid paper, 105 x 170 mm
Partial watermark: front legs and head of rearing unicorn
Inscribed by Turner in pencil ‘Dus’ top right
Inscribed by John Ruskin in red ink ’31’ top right, ascending vertically (smudged and faint)
Stamped in black ‘CCCXXII – 31’ top right, ascending vertically
 
Accepted by the nation as part of the Turner Bequest 1856
With the page turned horizontally, the main view shows a flat landscape with a slender spire, trees and the shaded profile of a more distinctive tower and dome beyond; these are likely respectively the west and east towers of the Romanesque Basilica of St Quirinus at Neuss, seen from the south near the west bank of the meandering Rhine a little downstream of Düsseldorf, which lies to its north-east on the opposite side. Compare Tate D19111 (Turner Bequest CCXIV 137a) in the 1825 Holland sketchbook, apparently with another distant view of the basilica, this time from the north.
The view below shows similar country, lacking any particular features, and is likely an immediate continuation to the right of the first. The inscription to the right, ‘Dus’, presumably indicates Düsseldorf itself, off in that direction (see folios 25 verso–26 recto; D32591–D32592; CCCXXII 26a–27).
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.

Matthew Imms
November 2019

How to cite

Matthew Imms, ‘The Basilica of St Quirinus, Neuss, from the River Rhine 1833 by Joseph Mallord William Turner’, catalogue entry, November 2019, in David Blayney Brown (ed.), J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours, Tate Research Publication, March 2023, https://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-the-basilica-of-st-quirinus-neuss-from-the-river-rhine-r1204064, accessed 26 April 2025.