Just outside Boppard; Looking towards Osterspai and Filsen

On 23rd August 1817 Turner takes the ferry back to the left bank of the Rhine.  Just before he reaches the town of Boppard he looks back at the sweeping bend in the Rhine.  The play of light with the rainbow makes this watercolour one of the most charming depictions amongst his series of Middle Rhine views.  This watercolour (along with 35 other views) was originally intended for the publisher W.B. Cooke, who subsequently decided against the project.  This did not prevent Turner from working up the sketches into watercolours nonetheless.