David Roberts, R.A.
Ruins of Baalbec
Auction Closed
April 29, 03:51 PM GMT
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
David Roberts, R.A.
(Edinburgh 1796 - 1864 London)
Ruins of Baalbec
Watercolour over pencil, heightened with bodycolour;
signed indistinctly lower right: David Roberts. R.A, inscribed and dated lower left: Ruins of Baalbec May 5th 1839.
309 by 496 mm.
Lord Francis Egerton, later 1st Earl of Ellesmere (1800-1857), purchased from the artist,
The Ellesmere Sale, London, Christie's, 2 April 1870, lot 76, bt Hogarth;
possibly, sale, London, Christie's, 1 June 1917, lot 57, bt Russell-Cotes,
possibly Sir Merton Russell-Cotes (1835-1921),
possibly, his sale, London, Christie's, 16 May 1919, lot 71, bt Sampson; with Richard Haworth, Blackburn, probably 1920s,
sale, London, Christie's, 2 April 1996, lot 95, bt Agnew's on behalf of the parents of the present owners.
Lithographed:
by Louis Haghe for The Holy Land, London 1843, vol. II, pl. 77 & London 1855, vol.II, pl. 77 (as Baalbec, General View)
Oxford, The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, on long-term loan, 2015 - 2021
B. Llewellyn, 'A master of the topographical: David Roberts at Baalbek', Archaeology and History in Lebanon, Autumn 2000, pp. 42-9, fig. 4
From Sidon it took Roberts and his party four days to reach Baalbec, which they did - in a violent rainstorm - on the 2nd of May 1839. Despite a poor first night, during which his tent was drenched through, causing him to catch a fever that made him 'suffer greatly', his excitement at being amongst the spectacular Roman ruins is palpable from his journal entries. He wrote: ‘such was my delight and wonder at the stateliness of the Temple [perhaps the Temple of Bacchus], that I could not resist visiting and examining every portion of it, until I became totally exhausted…. I feel that it must be difficult to convey, even with the pencil, any idea of the magnificence of this ruin, the beauty of its form, the exquisite richness of its ornament and the vast magnitude of its dimensions are altogether unparalleled.’1
This watercolour was lithographed for The Holy Land series and shows - from the left to right - the temples of Jupiter, Bacchus, Venus and Mercury, as well as the snow-capped mountains of Lebanon beyond. In the foreground men smoke long pipes, while - between them and the ruins - a camp, possibly Roberts’s, can be seen.
This work has a long and distinguished history. It was among those drawings acquired directly from the artist by Lord Egerton (see lot 301 for further information on this collector), while other notable owners include the art dealer Richard Haworth, who lived in Blackburn and dealt with British paintings with connections to the Middle East.
1. MS Eastern Journal, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
2. These included major works such as John Frederick Lewis’ An Arab of the Desert of Sinai which was sold at Christies, London, 2 July 2008, lot 52
