View from Castle Ehrenfels to the Mäuseturm

Footpath behind Castle Ehrenfels, View of the Mäuseturm

This watercolour drawing was only produced in 1841. Turner made repeated visits to places that had first fascinated him in 1817, sketching them over and over again. In order to see Castle Ehrenfels from this angle, the artist used an elevated vantage point. Bingen and the mouth of the river Nahe are visible in the distance. In the foreground there is a glimpse of a steamship near the »Mäuseturm«. In the late 1830s the tradition of towing boats upstream was eclipsed by the advent of steam power, which explains why the motif disappears in later works.

Watercolour drawing, 1841
Medium: watercolour and gouache with pencil and scratching out
Dimensions: 184 x 241 mm
Collection: The Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
Reference: TW1962