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

This is a view of the Rhine in Germany with the Burg Rheinstein at right. The castle was constructed in the fourteenth century for the Archbishopric of Mainz, but by the time of Turner’s visit in 1835 it was owned by the Prussians and became a favourite residence of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia.1 A few moments downstream from Burg Rheinstein is the Burg Reichenstein, a medieval fortification built on a mountain spur which also once belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz (see Tate D30653; Turner Bequest CCCIV 12).

For more sketches of the Burg Rheinstein see Tate D28494, D29733–D29734, D29767, D30578, D30580–D30581, D30584, D30654; Turner Bequest CCXC 72a, 70a–71, 89a, CCCIII 61a, 62a–63, 64a, CCCIV 12a.