David Roberts (1769 – 1864)

Citadel of Sidon – April 28th, 1839 (published 1943)

Lithograph with hand-colouring

23 x 35 cm (sheet size 17.5 x 24.5 cm)

The Citadel of Sidon, or Sidon Sea Castle, was built by crusaders in the thirteenth century as a fortress of the holy land. This lithograph is part of David Roberts’ series of views of the Holy Land, which he produced from sketches made during lengthy tours of the Near East in the 1830s. Egypt was much in vogue at this time, and travellers, collectors and lovers of antiquities were keen to buy works inspired by the East or depicting the great monuments of ancient Egypt; Roberts was more than happy to produce pictures on this lucrative theme. Queen Victoria was one of his 400 subscribers, and her set of lithographs is still held by the Royal Collection Trust. The lithographer Louis Haghe worked with Roberts to turn the original sketches into high-quality lithographs, which were then published in the 1840s by the printer F. G. Moon in London.

David Roberts RA RBA was a Scottish painter known for his Orientalist pictures. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1841.