Currently not on view
Bethlehem,
1839, published 1842
David Roberts, 1796–1864; born Stockbridge, Scotland; died London, United Kingdom
Lithographs by Louis Haghe, 1806–1885; born Tournai, Belgium; died London, UK; active England
Published by Francis Graham Moon, 1796–1871; born London, UK; died Brighton; active London
Lithographs by Louis Haghe, 1806–1885; born Tournai, Belgium; died London, UK; active England
Published by Francis Graham Moon, 1796–1871; born London, UK; died Brighton; active London
x1994-43
Born in Edinburgh, David Roberts began his career as a designer of stage sets and panoramas and later became a successful topographical painter and draftsman, specializing in architectural subjects from continental Europe. Expanding his horizons, in 1838 Roberts embarked on an extensive tour of Egypt, Nubia, and the Holy Land, becoming one of the first British artists to faithfully record the Near East firsthand, in a series of over two hundred meticulous drawings and watercolors. Upon his return to London in 1839, with the encouragement of such notable sponsors as Queen Victoria, Roberts engaged the skilled Belgian lithographer Louis Haghe to reproduce these watercolors in a series of six folio-sized volumes published between 1842 and 1849. The lithographs were an immediate international sensation, with more than 2,000 copies sold by advance subscription.
Information
Title
Bethlehem
Dates
1839, published 1842
Maker
Medium
Lithotint printed in color, over lithograph printed in black
Dimensions
image: 35.6 x 51.2 cm. (14 x 20 3/16 in.)
sheet: 43.5 x 61.1 cm. (17 1/8 x 24 1/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Josepha Weitzmann-Fiedler and George Galavaris in memory of Kurt Weitzmann
Object Number
x1994-43
Place Made
Asia, Palestine, Bethlehem
Inscription
Signed in stone, lower center: David Roberts, R. A.
Titled and dated in stone, lower right: Bethlehem, April 6th, 1839.
Printed below stone, lower center: London, Published by F. G. Moon, 20 Threadneedle St. Novr. 1st 1842.
Titled below stone, lower center: BETHLEHEM.
Marks/Labels/Seals
Inscribed in graphite in unknown hand, lower right margin: Holy Land
Reference Numbers
Abbey
Culture
Type
Materials
Techniques
- David Roberts and George Croly, The Holy Land: Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia (London: F. G. Moon, 1842-49)., plate 214
- John Roland Abbey, Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1770-1860 (London: Privately printed at the Curwen Press, 1956-57).
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1994," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 54, no. 1 (1995): p. 40-79., p. 74
