On the Rhine, near Cologne

Stanfield's On the Rhine, near Cologne from 1829 depicts the approach to Germany's greatest Gothic cathedral, whose twin spires dominated the Rhine skyline and had become one of the primary symbols of German national and religious identity in the Romantic period. Cologne Cathedral's construction had been halted in medieval times and its completion became a major national project in the early nineteenth century — it was finally completed in 1880. Stanfield's view of Cologne from the Rhine combined topographical record with the Romantic fascination with medieval architecture as a vehicle for national and spiritual feeling, the cathedral towers rising above the city in the characteristic manner of Gothic sublimity.

Stanfield captures the atmosphere of the Rhine landscape with dramatic lighting and careful topographical detail. The Cologne skyline, dominated by the cathedral, is rendered against atmospheric sky. The palette combines warm earth tones with cool atmospheric blues, creating the misty, romantic quality associated with Rhine landscapes.