J M W Turner View along the Hauptstrasse, Heidelberg, 1844 Graphite and watercolour on paper, 229 x 329 mm From the Heidelberg sketchbook, Tate, London, D35232; Turner Bequest CCCLII 12 as 'View along the Hauptstrasse, Heidelberg' This is an unusual subject for Turner, recording a street scene in the town, rather than a major prospect. Here we are looking along the main street with the walls of the Heiliggeistkirche on the left, the castle seen over the rooftops in the centre, and the buildings on the south side of the Hauptstrasse culminating in the elaborate Renaissance façade of the Hotel Ritter to the right. As is often the case at this stage in his career Turner has synthesised a few viewpoints in this sketch. It is impossible to see the castle as clearly as this except from further down the street, and the angles on the Hotel Ritter and the church are incompatible without shifting position at least once. My photograph is likewise stitched together from three separate images. We can, however, be sure that Turner did made this sketch from the motif. Modern scholars trend towards Turner making his colour studies in his hotel or in the studio after the event, from pencil sketches or from memory. There is no comparable pencil sketch of this, and the phenomenal aspects of the subject, of late afternoon light flooding weakly into a street still cool and wet from rain is vividly given.  Photo courtesy of Tate To view this image in Tate's own catalogue of the Turner bequest, click on the following link, and use your browser's 'back' button to return to this page. http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/turner-view-along-the-hauptstrasse-heidelberg-d35232
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