Tales from the Island of Serendip 4 4

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Seasons greetings, too from Roshni, with thanks for all your support this past year. Shahina even baked a cake - her first.

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Eqypt, Nubia and The Holy Land by David Roberts

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David Roberts RA (24 October 1796 – 25 November 1864) was a Scottish painter. He is especially known for a prolific series of detailed lithograph prints of Egypt and the Near East that he produced from sketches he made during long tours of the region (1838–1840). These and his large oil paintings of similar subjects made him a prominent Orientalist painter.

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Roberts set sail for Egypt on 31 August 1838. His intent was to produce drawings that he could later use as the basis for the paintings and lithographs to sell to the public.

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Egypt was much in vogue at this time, and travellers, collectors and lovers of antiquities were keen to buy works inspired by the East or depicting the great monuments of ancient Egypt.

 

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Roberts made a long tour in Egypt, Nubia, the Sinai, the Holy Land, Jordan and Lebanon. Throughout, he produced a vast collection of drawings and watercolour sketches.

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On his return to Britain, Roberts worked with lithographer Louis Haghe from 1842 to 1849 to produce the lavishly illustrated plates of the Sketches in the Holy Land and Syria, 1842–1849 and Egypt & Nubia series.

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He funded the work through advance subscriptions which he solicited directly.

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The scenery and monuments of Egypt and Holy Land were fashionable but had hitherto been hardly touched by British artists, and so Roberts quickly accumulated 400 subscription commitments, with Queen Victoria being subscriber No. 1. Her complete set is still in the Royal Collection.

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The timing of publication just before photographs of the sites became available proved fortuitous.

 

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Today, a set of the originals will easily command £25,000.

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I love his use of intense light which renders even the most monumental of stone sculptures seemingly evanescent.

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Petra...

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