Jerusalem

In 1858 Lear was commissioned to paint a view of Jerusalem at sunset by Lady Waldegrave, for whom he also executed a large picture of Venice. He arrived in Jerusalem in Holy Week, and in preparation for the painting explored the surrounding landscape to find the most suitable location from which to base his viewpoint of the great city. He wrote that he 'went up the Mount of Olives - every step bringing fresh beauty to the city uprising behind. At the top, by the Church of Ascension, the view is wonderfully beautiful indeed' (E. Lear, Diary, 28.iii.58), and climbed ‘to the spot Christ must have been on when he “saw the city” - on coming from Bethany’ (Letter to his sister Ann, 29 March 1858, in V. Noakes, Edward Lear: The Life of a Wanderer, London, 2004, p. 133).