- Museum number
- 1958,0712.420
- Description
-
Biebrich Palace on the Rhine; the palace seen in the distance on the right bank of the river which comes into the foreground, mountains beyond, two loaded boats in the left foreground, at right men moving timber which floats in the river. 1820
Watercolour
- Production date
- 1820
- Dimensions
-
Height: 293 millimetres
-
Width: 453 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- Sloan 1998
Although the 'sketchy' character of the watercolours in the Rhine series purchased by Walter Fawkes would not have been to the taste of most patrons of the time, there were a few who envied Fawkes his possession of them and requested their own copies of some of the compositions. The publisher and engraver W. B. Cooke was one of these, and in 1819 he contracted Turner to produce thirty-six views of the Rhine to be engraved by J. C. Allen and published by Cooke and John Murray. Turner had already produced several of these when the project was abandoned the following year owing to the appearance of a rival publication, and Cooke himself purchased three of the finished watercolours. They were slightly smaller than the originals, but far more elaborate in detail, as one would expect of a series to be engraved for the armchair traveller.
The Swinburne family of Capheaton, Northumberland (see 1958,0712.409), were friends of Walter Fawkes (both had London residences in Grosvenor Place) and were among the small group of patrons who owned (possibly commissioned) copies of the series at Farnley Hall. The original watercolour of 'Biebrich' owned by Fawkes was sold in 1890 and bequeathed by its purchaser to the National Gallery of Wales, Cardiff, eight years later (W 638). It measures 229 x 343 mm, smaller than the present watercolour, and contains fewer details; it is as if all the components of the landscape and objects in the fore- and middle-grounds of the first version have been brought forward and into greater focus in this larger version produced for the Swinburne family. The palace was renowned as the most princely on the banks of the Rhine, with vast and beautiful gardens extending behind it.¹ It was built at the beginning of the eighteenth century by Prince George Augustus, with a central dining room in the form of a rotunda (clearly visible in Turner's view). Campbell pointed out that it was once tenanted for one night by King George II and his brother the Duke of Cumberland.²
Turner exaggerated the length of the wings of the palace in this larger work and increased the number of men working on the long wooden jetty reaching into the river, using the addition of a small skiff at its end to draw our attention across the image to the bustle of activity in the reeds on the left. In spite of all this busyness, half the composition is given to one of Turner's most stunning skies, and the emphasis on the horizontal creates a work of serene beauty, providing a fitting complement to its companion from the Swinburne collection, Marxburg (1958,0712.422), with its hills, trees and castles reaching upwards in a symphony of forms and colours.
1. See Wilton 1982 (23).
2. C. Campbell, p. 180.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1828, Newcastle, no.74
1887, RA, no.61
1913, Agnew's, no.24
1913, Manchester, no.107
1924, Agnew's, no.23
1934, RA, no.896 (770)
1936-7, BFAC, no.103
1951, Agnew's, no.56
1959, 1960, BM
1966 Feb, BM, Turner Lloyd Bequest, no.15
1969 Feb, BM, Turner Lloyd Bequest, no.15
1975 BM, Turner in the BM, no.79
1998 May-Sept., BM, J.M.W.Turner: Lloyd Bequest, no.20
- Acquisition date
- 1958
- Acquisition notes
- UNDER THE TERMS OF THE BEQUEST, NONE OF THE PRINTS OR DRAWINGS BEQUEATHED BY R. W. LLOYD MAY BE LENT OUTSIDE THE BRITISH MUSEUM (Registration Numbers 1958,0712.318 to 3149).
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1958,0712.420