Drachenfels by the Rhine - a study

The present lot was painted by Willem Roelofs at an early stage of his career when he travelled, presumably in 1841, with his mentor Hendrikus van de Sande Bakhuyzen, to the Koenigswinter area in Germany which is steeped in legend. Tourism started here in the last decades of the 18th century with travelers from England following a route up the river Rhine. Willem Roelofs chose a spot on the mythical Drachenfels mountain looking down onto the isle of Nonnenwerth, on which a 12th century convent was located, and towards the town of Rolandseck and the mountains beyond.