Lot Essay
Roberts was at Baalbec from 2-8 May 1839 but, according to his journal, fever prevented him from beginning his drawings of the Roman Temples there until the 4th May. He wrote in his journal, 'The beauty of its form, the exquisite richness of its ornament, and the vast magnitude of its dimensions, are altogether unparallelled' (4 May 1839; reprinted in Ran, loc. cit.).
In the text of The Holy Land, Roberts is quoted to slightly different effect: 'Leaving Zahley... we came in sight of Baalbec. Next day, though the rain continued to fall without intermission and though I was seized with fever, such was my delight and wonder at the stateliness of the Temple, that I could not resist visiting and examining every position of it, until I became totally exhausted, and was confined to my bed for some time' (Holy Land, at pl.18).
The watercolour shows the Temple of Bacchus, begun under Antonius Pius in the middle of the 2nd century A.D., and, behind it to the right, the outer wall of the Great Court of the Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitan.
There is a preliminary version of this watercolour (not lithographed) in the Government Art Collection.
We are grateful to Brionly Llewellyn for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.
In the text of The Holy Land, Roberts is quoted to slightly different effect: 'Leaving Zahley... we came in sight of Baalbec. Next day, though the rain continued to fall without intermission and though I was seized with fever, such was my delight and wonder at the stateliness of the Temple, that I could not resist visiting and examining every position of it, until I became totally exhausted, and was confined to my bed for some time' (Holy Land, at pl.18).
The watercolour shows the Temple of Bacchus, begun under Antonius Pius in the middle of the 2nd century A.D., and, behind it to the right, the outer wall of the Great Court of the Temple of Jupiter Heliopolitan.
There is a preliminary version of this watercolour (not lithographed) in the Government Art Collection.
We are grateful to Brionly Llewellyn for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.