The Dead Sea Looking Towards Moab - David Roberts
Archival giclée
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Description
A detailed topographical study by David Roberts, capturing the arid beauty of the Dead Sea and the distant mountains of Moab in 1839.
David Roberts, a Scottish painter known for his meticulous documentation of the Near East, produced this work during his extensive travels in 1839. The composition captures the stark, arid geography of the region, focusing on the dramatic descent towards the Dead Sea with the mountains of Moab visible in the distance. Roberts utilised a restrained palette of ochre, sepia, and muted blue to convey the atmospheric conditions and the harsh light characteristic of the desert environment.
The drawing demonstrates the artist's ability to balance architectural detail with the vast scale of the natural terrain. The foreground features a fortified structure perched precariously on the edge of a deep ravine, providing a sense of human presence within an otherwise desolate expanse. Roberts employed fine graphite lines to define the rocky textures and structural elements, while light washes of watercolour suggest the hazy, sun-drenched quality of the horizon.
This piece is representative of the nineteenth-century fascination with biblical geography and the documentation of foreign lands. Roberts travelled with a specific intent to record sites of historical and religious interest, often sketching directly from life before refining his observations into more formal compositions. His work remains a primary source for understanding the appearance of these sites prior to modern development. The clarity of his draughtsmanship and his sensitivity to light allow the viewer to perceive the depth and physical reality of the terrain. This print offers a precise reproduction of the original study, maintaining the subtle tonal variations and the delicate handling of the medium that define Roberts's approach to topographical art.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Materials & Sizing
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
The Dead Sea Looking Towards Moab - 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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