Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A.

Possibly H. Finberg;
with The Fine Art Society, London, 1942;
C. E. Hughes;
by family decent to the present owner

A. Wilton, The Life and Work of J.M.W. Turner, 1979, cat. no. 1340

Support This drawing is on a sheet of wove, white, Whatman type paper, and at present is attached to an overlay mount, at the top edge on the verso, with brown paper tape. The sheet is in a good condition, though slightly time stained, and mount stained at the edges. Medium The medium is in good condition though a little faded. Note: This work was viewed outside studio conditions.
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This watercolour has hitherto been known as A fort on the Mosel or Rhine. However, it can now be fully identified as a view of the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein. Literally translated into English Ehrenbreitstein means 'the Broad Stone of Honour'. This imposing structure, high up on a steep cliff is situated opposite the town of Coblenz and guards the confluence of the Rhine and Mosel rivers.

Ehrenbreitstein's military importance cannot be over-estimated. In Turner's day it was a working and active fort, reputed to be able to house 100,000 men, its cisterns could hold enough fresh water to withstand a three year siege and its stores were large enough to feed 8,000 people for 10 years.

Between 1817 and 1844 Turner made several journeys to the Rhineland. Ehrenbreitstein clearly enthralled him and there are several surviving watercolours and drawings from these tours. The fort also featured in a major oil painting entitled 'The Bright Stone Of Honour and Tomb of Marceau from  Byron's' Childe Harold', which he exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1835. [1]

The present work has been dated to 1841, a year when Turner briefly stopped at Coblenz on his way to Switzerland. Turner shows the location bathed in the late afternoon sun. He focuses on the translucent effects of light playing on the silhouette of the fortress and the calm surface of the Rhine. Although smaller in size, this watercolour appears to be closely related to a group of works of Ehrenbreitstein, that are thought to date from this tour.[2] Inscribed 'Wing[en]' [sic] verso, suggests that the pencil drawing on the verso depicts the village of Winnigen, which lies only a few miles up the Mosel from Coblenz.

We would like to thank Dr. Cecilia Powell and Peter Bower for their help in cataloguing this work.

[1] M. Butlin & E. Joll, The Paintings of J.M.W. Turner, 1984, cat. no. 361
[2] C. Powell, Turner's Rivers of Europe to Rhine, Meuse and Mosel, 1991, cat. nos. 128-134