Lot Essay
The painting is a major rediscovery, having long been the only missing work among the six large views of Jerusalem painted by Roberts. The others are as follows: (1) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, with Pilgrims returning from the River Jordan, 1841, 47 x 83in. Painted for Lord Monson, now at Royal Holloway College, Egham, Surrey (no.65 in RHC cat.); (2) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, with Pilgrims returning from the River Jordan, 1842, 32 1/8 x 59¾in. A smaller version of (1), painted for the Rev. W.B. Hurnard, whom Roberts met in Egypt. Now at Norwich Castle Museum; (3) Jerusalem from the South, 1845, 47½ x 83in. Painted for Lord Francis Egerton, now in a private collection, U.S.A. A nearer view of the city with a different foreground; (4) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, 1855, 21½ x 36½in. In the collection of the Duke of Westminster by 1874, now in the Government Art Collection; (5) Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, 1860, 20 5/8 x 36in. Painted over an unfinished mezzotint of the Royal Holloway College version by David Lucas, laid down on canvas. Now at Leicester Museum & Art Gallery.
Roberts went to the East in 1838, leaving London on 21 August and reaching Alexandria on 24 September; he stayed in Egypt until 7 February 1839 when he left for a long journey on foot and camel to Jerusalem via Suez, Akaba, Petra, Hebron, Gaza and Jaffa (Tel Aviv) reaching Jerusalem on 28 March. However, he stayed only a few days before going on to Jericho and the Dead Sea, and to Bethlehem; and although he returned to Jerusalem on 8 April, he again spent only a week there before leaving for the last part of his journey, which included Baalbec. He returned to England in October 1839.
Jerusalem was obviously a deep disappointment to Roberts, who had long looked forward to seeing the city. When he had heard in Cairo that it was closed because of plague he nearly gave up the whole of this part of his venture. He wrote in his Eastern Journal that he and his companions reached Jerusalem the very day that the quarantine was lifted and the barriers removed after almost a year. In spite of this, the city was very full for the Easter celebrations and the party had some difficulty in finding lodgings. Roberts spent his first few days in the city looking at historic sites and watching the celebrations. He began to draw on his return from Bethlehem, but on 12 April he wrote 'I begin to be very tired of Jerusalem, surely there cannot be any city more wretched. How has the mighty fallen! I have wandered over the hills today in the burning sun, to find a good view of the once mighty city, but without success, the walls being almost all that is visible; within them all is misery ...' On the next day: "The Sirocco or South Wind is raging here today; the whole atmosphere is impregnated with small particles of sand .... I have never had more uphill work than in sketching the various objects of interest about Jerusalem. The city within the walls may be called a desert, two thirds of it being a mass of ruins and cornfields; the remaining third ... being of such a paltry and contemptable character that no artist could render them interesting ...."
In spite of this, Roberts made enough drawings to form a basis for the six large oils of Jerusalem, but it may provide the reason why they are all rather alike, or copies of one another. He also made a number of watercolours to be used later for the well known series of lithographs by Louis Haghe for the publication usually known as Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land (The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia) in which there are fourteen lithographs of the city within the walls, and four from outside the walls, including Jerusalem from the Road leading to Bethany, from the South, from the Mount of Olives and from the North.
Jerusalem from the South was painted more than twenty years after Roberts' return from the Holy Land. This was not unusual for Roberts, there being a number of other examples of his facility in this way.
We are grateful to Helen Guiterman for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.
Roberts went to the East in 1838, leaving London on 21 August and reaching Alexandria on 24 September; he stayed in Egypt until 7 February 1839 when he left for a long journey on foot and camel to Jerusalem via Suez, Akaba, Petra, Hebron, Gaza and Jaffa (Tel Aviv) reaching Jerusalem on 28 March. However, he stayed only a few days before going on to Jericho and the Dead Sea, and to Bethlehem; and although he returned to Jerusalem on 8 April, he again spent only a week there before leaving for the last part of his journey, which included Baalbec. He returned to England in October 1839.
Jerusalem was obviously a deep disappointment to Roberts, who had long looked forward to seeing the city. When he had heard in Cairo that it was closed because of plague he nearly gave up the whole of this part of his venture. He wrote in his Eastern Journal that he and his companions reached Jerusalem the very day that the quarantine was lifted and the barriers removed after almost a year. In spite of this, the city was very full for the Easter celebrations and the party had some difficulty in finding lodgings. Roberts spent his first few days in the city looking at historic sites and watching the celebrations. He began to draw on his return from Bethlehem, but on 12 April he wrote 'I begin to be very tired of Jerusalem, surely there cannot be any city more wretched. How has the mighty fallen! I have wandered over the hills today in the burning sun, to find a good view of the once mighty city, but without success, the walls being almost all that is visible; within them all is misery ...' On the next day: "The Sirocco or South Wind is raging here today; the whole atmosphere is impregnated with small particles of sand .... I have never had more uphill work than in sketching the various objects of interest about Jerusalem. The city within the walls may be called a desert, two thirds of it being a mass of ruins and cornfields; the remaining third ... being of such a paltry and contemptable character that no artist could render them interesting ...."
In spite of this, Roberts made enough drawings to form a basis for the six large oils of Jerusalem, but it may provide the reason why they are all rather alike, or copies of one another. He also made a number of watercolours to be used later for the well known series of lithographs by Louis Haghe for the publication usually known as Egypt, Syria and the Holy Land (The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia) in which there are fourteen lithographs of the city within the walls, and four from outside the walls, including Jerusalem from the Road leading to Bethany, from the South, from the Mount of Olives and from the North.
Jerusalem from the South was painted more than twenty years after Roberts' return from the Holy Land. This was not unusual for Roberts, there being a number of other examples of his facility in this way.
We are grateful to Helen Guiterman for her help in preparing this catalogue entry.