A view of Edinburgh from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle with, to the left, Prince's Street, the Scott Monument and the Royal Institution, in the distance, Calton Hill with the Nelson Monument, the Observatory, the Bass Rock and North Berwick Law, to the right, the Esplanade, the Royal Mile with St. Giles' Cathedral, Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat, with Highland soldiers in the foreground

Details

David Roberts, R.A. (1796-1824)
A view of Edinburgh from the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle with, to the left, Prince's Street, the Scott Monument and the Royal Institution, in the distance, Calton Hill with the Nelson Monument, the Observatory, the Bass Rock and North Berwick Law, to the right, the Esplanade, the Royal Mile with St. Giles' Cathedral, Salisbury Crags and Arthur's Seat, with Highland soldiers in the foreground
signed 'David Roberts, R.A.' (lower left) and further inscribed indistinctly
pencil and watercolour with gum arabic, heightened with touches of bodycolour, on two joined sheets of blue/green paper
11¼ x 28 in. (28.5 x 80 cm.)

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis. Notice to Buyers Resident in Scotland Payment and collections may be made immediately following the end of the sale until 7.00pm. Collections may be made on Friday, 27 October 2000 from 9.00 am until 1.00 pm, after which all lots purchased by Scottish residents will be transported free of charge to either our Glasgow office, tel 44(0)141 332 8134 or to our Edinburgh office, tel 44(0)131 225 4756 where they will be available from 9.00 am on Monday, 30 October. Notice to Buyers outside Scotland Purchases made by buyers with addresses outside Scotland will be transferred to Christie's, 8 King Street, London SW1, for collection from noon on Monday, 30 October 2000. Purchases are only insured for a period of seven working days following the sale.

Lot Essay

A version of this view in oil, with slight variations, was painted by Roberts in 1847 (Yale Center for British Art, New Haven) and lithographed by J.D. Harding, Scotland Delineated, 1847-53, facing p. 37. This watercolour may be a preliminary study for the oil painting. Roberts, when working on the oil painting in 1846, after a visit to Scotland, wrote to his friend D.R. Hay in Edinburgh asking him to send the following views of Edinburgh he'd seen in a print shop; Three shops below Widal corner on the north Bridge, Scott Monument; Royal Institution, longitudinal view; Register Office; Tron Kirk; Buildings on Carlton Hill and a Calyotype of A group of Highland Soldiers on the Half Moon Battery, in undress. It is certainly possible to date this watercolour to before 1850 as the National Gallery of Scotland is not depicted and the foundation stone for it was not laid until 1850.

We are grateful to Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz for her help in the preparation of this catalogue entry.

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