David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)

The Gate of Metwaley, Cairo

細節

David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1864)
The Gate of Metwaley, Cairo
signed 'David Roberts. R.A.' (lower left) and inscribed and dated 'Cairo Dec 28th(?) /1838' (lower right)
pencil and watercolour heightened with white
13½ x 9¾in. (34.2 x 24.7cm.)

來源

Anon. sale, Sotheby's London, 22 Mar. 1979, lot 122 as 'The Principal Mosque at Bulak'. (2,800 to Danny).
Anon. sale, Christie's London, 29 Mar. 1983, lot 163 (5,500).
with Mathaf Gallery.

展覽

London, Barbican Art Gallery, David Roberts, 1986, no 138, illustrated.

拍品專文

This drawing was not engraved for Roberts' Egypt and Nubia, though two other exterior views and an interior were, but it was developed in the oil painting of 1843 now in the Victoria and Albert Museum (see exhibition catalogue, Barbican Art Gallery, op.cit., p.116, no.146, pl.73, illustrated in colour).
The Bab el-Metwalli, or Bab Zuweyleh, is one of the old gates of Cairo, built under the Fatemids 1087-92. The two towers are surmounted by the minarets of the adjacent mosque of Sultan Muaiyad Shazhh.
Roberts wrote in his diary on 28 December 1838, 'Today made two drawings of the gate of Bab Zuweyleh, with its minarets. I am still bewildered with the extraordinary picturesque streets and buildings of this most wonderful of all cities'.
We are grateful to Briony Llewellyn for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.