David Roberts, R.A.

Sale, London, Christie's, 9 November 1976, lot 92;

with Agnew's, London, by 2004, when acquired by the parents of the present owners. 

Lithographed:

by Louis Haghe for The Holy Land, London 1843, vol. II, pl. 49 & London 1855, vol. II, pl. 49 

Oxford, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, on long-term loan, 2015 - 2021  

While in Jerusalem Roberts met Achmet Aga, the Ottoman Governor of Jerusalem, who - under instructions from Pasha Muhammad Ali of Egypt to pay every attention to Europeans travelers, especially the English - not only suggested to Roberts that he might like to use the upper part of his house to make drawings in but also - when he heard of Roberts's plans to travel to the River Jordan and then on to the Convent of Santa Saba and the town of Bethlehem - he offered to supply him with horses and a guide. 

Roberts left Jerusalem on the 1^st of April and at Jericho he chanced upon the Governor again, who was preparing to go to the river Jordan to watch the spectacle of Easter pilgrims bathing in the waters. The Governor promptly invited Roberts to sample sherbet and coffee in his tent, as well as to set up camp next to him. The next day Roberts accompanied the Governor to the river itself. 

The present watercolour, which was lithographed for The Holy Land series, shows this encampment under a clear, moonlit sky. The entire composition consists of graceful curves and conjures up the magic stillness of the desert night. Roberts was very much struck with the breadth of the plain of Jericho and here, as is so often the case, he succeeds in capturing the grandeur of the landscape before him.