Description
Biographical notes on acclaimed 19th-century Scottish artist David Roberts and excerpts from his diaries are nearly eclipsed by the 120 color, mostly full page lithographic plates of sketches of his 1839 Middle East sojourn. Fabio Bourbon's introduction notes that this is the first time these original plates from their 1842-49 publication are exhibited in their proper chronological order. Pairing these lushly hued vistas of such biblical locales as Jerusalem, Haifa, Bethlehem, and Petra with the same views photographed in the 1990s by Antonio Attini, reveals how superbly Roberts rendered these awe-inspiring landscapes despite some modern encroachments. No index. 10x14" Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.
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David Roberts was born in 1796 at Stockbridge, near Edinburgh, to an extremely humble family. He spent his childhood in total but dignified poverty, which did nothing to prevent him, however, from showing early but remarkable artistic gifts. Gifted with great determination and equal talents, Roberts succeeded in overcoming his humble beginnings, and quickly became one of the most acclaimed artists of the period. An excellent landscape artist, after traveling repeatedly throughout Europe, he set out for Egypt in 1838, and during the first months of the following years, he toured the Sinai Peninsula, Petra, Jerusalem, Palestine, the coast of Lebanon, and Baalbec. The lithographs taken from the sketches he made during that remarkable journey of exploration in the Holy Land, and published in London by Francis Graham Moon between 1842 and 1849, assured him a fame that has lasted to the present day. This volume contains the original plates of the first edition, in large format, arranged for the first time in correct chronological order, with commentary and considerable extracts from Roberts' journal. Each illustration, moreover, is paired with a photograph that depicts the same a century and a half later.
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