David Roberts, R.A.

Sir William Stirling Maxwell, 9^th Bt of Pollok (1818-1878);

sale, Edinburgh, Lyon and Turnbull, 28 November 2006, lot 41, bt Agnew’s, on behalf of the parents of the present owners.

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

This watercolour, which is inscribed on the verso: 'drawn by David Roberts from a sketch by Sir David Wilkie 3 April 1841', was made after Roberts's return to England in homage to his friend and fellow artist Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841).

Roberts was one of several painters who encouraged Wilkie to visit the Middle East and it was on the return journey from Jerusalem in 1841 that Wilkie died from a fever on board ship. That same year, Edward Goodall made an engraving of Bethlehem from the viewpoint used in this watercolour. Although the print states that it is ‘after Sir David Wilkie’, it seems likely that Goodall was, in fact, using the present work as his guide; Roberts keeping his involvement secret in honour of his late friend.