Ruins Called Om El Hamed near Tyre - David Roberts
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Description
A detailed topographical watercolour by David Roberts depicting the ancient ruins of Om El Hamed near Tyre, captured during his 1839 tour of the Near East.
This work by David Roberts captures the archaeological remains at Om El Hamed, situated near the ancient city of Tyre in modern-day Lebanon. Executed during his extensive tour of the Near East in 1839, the drawing demonstrates the artist's precise observation of architectural decay and the surrounding coastal environment. Roberts was a trained scene painter, a background that informs his ability to balance the structural integrity of the fallen columns with the expansive, atmospheric quality of the Mediterranean horizon.
The foreground is dominated by scattered, weathered stone fragments, including fluted column drums and ornate capitals, which are rendered with careful attention to texture and light. A small group of figures, dressed in regional attire, rests near the standing ruins, providing a sense of scale and human presence against the vastness of the site. The composition relies on a muted palette of ochre, sandy beige, and soft grey, which reflects the sun-bleached nature of the stone and the arid climate of the region.
Roberts's work was later lithographed by Louis Haghe for the publication 'The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia'. This specific watercolour serves as a primary record of his travels, documenting the physical state of the ruins at a time when European interest in Near Eastern antiquities was growing. The artist employs a delicate line quality, using graphite to define the contours of the stone before applying thin washes of watercolour to suggest shadow and depth. The result is a measured, documentary-style depiction that prioritises clarity and topographical accuracy over dramatic interpretation, offering a window into the nineteenth-century European perspective on the classical sites of the Levant.
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Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Ruins Called Om El Hamed near Tyre - David Roberts
Artist Biography
David Roberts
In 1838 he sailed for Egypt and spent the next two years travelling through the Middle East, filling sketchbooks with drawings of temples, mosques, ruins and desert landscapes that almost no British artist had recorded before. To enter the mosques he had to shave off his sideburns, leave his hog-hair brushes behind (the pig being unclean), and wear traditional Arab clothing while he worked. He was one of the first Europeans allowed to paint inside a mosque.
The sketches became The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt and Nubia, a series of 247 lithograph plates produced in collaboration with the printer Louis Haghe between 1842 and 1849. He funded the project through advance subscriptions, soliciting them personally. Queen Victoria was subscriber number one. Her complete set is still in the Royal Collection.
The lithographs gave Europeans their first detailed visual record of the ancient Near East. They were bought as art, used as reference by scholars, and shaped the Western imagination of Egypt and Palestine for the rest of the century.
His personal life was less composed. His wife Margaret became an alcoholic and in 1831 he sent her back to Scotland to be cared for by friends. He raised their daughter Christine largely alone. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1841, a considerable achievement for a man who had started painting houses, and worked steadily until his death in 1864.
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