In recent years, David Roberts RA (1796-1864) of Scotland has been rediscovered and is counted among the greatest masters of 19th century British Romantic art. Though this self-taught artist tackled many subjects, he is best known for his lithographs of Egypt and the Holy Land. The artistic results of his epic 1838 journey to capture views of this far-off land are today considered an enduring treasure.
His detailed, almost photographic, depictions of the great monuments throughout Egypt are historically important because many of them no longer exist. For instance, the Nubian temples which he documented so meticulously were dismantled and reassembled sometimes far from their original sites in the early 1960s when the Aswan High Dam was built on the Nile. As a result of the dam Lake Nasser was formed and the temple sites were lost forever.
David Roberts left behind not only an amazing artistic heritage but an irreplaceable historic record. Please enjoy our selected images from his vast array of work:
- David Roberts in Arab dress
Robert Scott Lauder 1840 (via)
- Colossal figures in front of the Great Temple of Abu Simbel
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Part of the ruins of a temple on the Island of Bigge, Nubia
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The gate of the Metwalis, or Bab Zuweyleh, Cairo
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The Hypaethral Temple of Philae
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Temple of Philae
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- A colossal statue at the entrance to the Temple of Luxor
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- The Simoon in the desert
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Pompey’s Column/Egypt
David Roberts 1838 (via)
- Pompey’s Column/Egypt
David Roberts 1838 (via)
The Great Sphinx, Pyramids of GizehDavid Roberts 1838 (via)
Temple of Dendour, NubiaDavid Roberts 1838 (via)
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