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

With fine and agile handling, Turner has pictured the towns of Traben on the left bank of the Moselle and Trarbach on the right. Highlighted in chalk, the profile of the majestic ruined Castle of Grevenburg can be seen at centre crowning a conical mount.

The Grevenburg was constructed in 1350 by Count Johann III of Sponheim-Starkenburg but was later conquered in 1680 by Louis XIV of France and extended, together with the fort of Mont Royal, as part of the King’s artillery.1 The castle was besieged on a number of occasions between 1702 and 1730 and was finally destroyed by the French in 1734.2 The hollowed remains of Grevenburg’s western wall and keep are largely intact, though huge swathes of its masonry have plunged into the valley beneath.

Turner recorded both towns and the Grevenburg on Tate D20191; Turner Bequest CCXIX 30 and in the Rivers Meuse and Moselle sketchbook of 1824 (Tate D19764–D19766, D19768, D19770; Turner Bequest CCXVI 109–109, 110, 111). See also the gouache and watercolour drawings of Traben and Trarbach produced following the 1839 Meuse-Moselle tour (Tate D20223, D20234, D20240, D20259; Turner Bequest CCXX P, CCXXI A, G, Z).

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