July 11th.—Let those who delight in picturesque country repair to the borders of the Rhine, and follow the road which we took from Bonn to Coblentz. In some places it is suspended like a cornice above the waters; in others, it winds behind lofty steeps and broken acclivities, shaded by woods and clothed with an endless variety of plants and flowers. Several green paths lead amongst this vegetation to the summits of the rocks, which often serve as the foundation of abbeys and castles, whose lofty roofs and spires, rising above the cliffs, impress passengers with ideas of their grandeur, that might probably vanish upon a nearer approach. William Beckford, Letter VIII from _Dreams, Waking Thoughts, and Incidents_ 1783
A 17th century landscape painting showing the river Rhine which fills the lower right between steep banks and a mountain range. Its blue-green waters reflec a bright day with blue sky and dramatic clouds. The waterway is bustling with prams and boats between flat sandbanks and islands. On the left banks a sort of riverharbour filled with many vessels. Above the river, the forground depicted in the left lower triangle of the picture, shows some buildings, a church, behind it a castle or fortification and towers and various populated roads and paths between green trees. Above the right bank, disappearing in a haze, further spires of buildings and castles or ruins sit on steep, rocky cliffs. Although more than hundred years before Beckford's travel, the picture reminds his description of the Rhine valley south of Bonn towards Koblenz, painters preforming a view that appears in literary description only much later. "View on the Rhine" - Oil Painting by Herman Saftleven (1609 - 1685) dated 1656 Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saftleven,_Herman_-_View_on_the_Rhine_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
Romantic Landscapes (20/n)
#Rhine #Beckford #RomanticLandscapes
Travellers & writers from the British Isles detect the Rhine landscapes before the romantic movement. Here William Beckford describes in a letter from his travel along the Rhine in 1782.
