Plate 27 Mount Tabor from the plain of Esdraelon - After David Roberts
Roberts drew this composition on either the 22nd January 1839. 'After passing through Jenin, Roberts and his travelling companions followed a track that was to take them to Nazareth, after skirting the plain of Esdraelon. Mentioned several times in the Bible, the fertile plain of Esdraelon, crossed by the Kishon River, opens out amidst the hills of northern Samaria and between Carmel to the south and Galilee to the north. Crisscrossed by ancient and important roads and routes, this plain was the site of famous battles: Barak conquered the Mediates; Ahab routed the Syrians; Saul was conquered and killed by the Philistines; Josiah was beaten by the pharaoh Necho. The land was reclaimed and improved centuries ago and today is extremely populous and productive farm land. The highlands that overlook it are Gilboa, Hermon, and the very imposing Mount Tabor, certainly the geographic feature that most captured the imagination of David Roberts. He sketched the mountain although he did note that he found it far less grand than he had gathered from the drawings he had seen of it by others.
Although the mountain is handsome and well proportioned, it long ago lost its daunting austerity because of the ongoing of settlement and reclamation that local farmers have been carrying forward over the years, shaping the slopes and smoothing away the mountain's most jagged edges. On the other hand, Roberts concluded in his notes that this was the same fate that befell practically every mountain and hill in Palestine, where farming softens everything. The caravan shown in the foreground in the drawing was a group of Christian pilgrims returning to Jerusalem from Damascus. Roberts come upon the caravan as the pilgrims were taking their noonday rest.' [1]
In his journal Roberts wrote on the 19th April 'We started at daybreak and shortly arrived at Jenin. We passed on through a beautiful country - Hermon on our right, Mount Tabor standing alone, overlooking the Plain of Esdraelon, said to be one of the richest in the world. A winding path leads up into the mountains, and we descended upon the hamlet of Nazareth, nestled, as it were, in the bosom of the hills. We were kindly received by the superior of the Latin convent, which is conspicuously situated.' [2]
The drawings and watercolours from this tour by David Roberts of the Holy Land and Egypt were collated together into folios and released over a seven-year period by the publisher F.G. Moon from 20 Threadneedle Street London. This lithograph was published on June 1st 1844.
Medium: Original First Edition Lithograph, with later hand-colouring on thick woven paper.
Half Plate 27.
Inscribed l.l. 'Mount Tabor from the plain of Esdraelon' and l.r. 'David Roberts R.A.', 24.6 x 34.2 cm, mounted (40.7x 49.8cm).
References:
[1] Fabio Bourbon (ed). Yesterday and Today: The Holy Land. Swan Hill Press: London, 1997, p.210. Translated by Antony Shugaar.
[2] David Roberts' Journal, 19th April 1839.
Condition report: very good for its age. A few small markings and time staining, please see photos including a mark towards the top right of the lithograph. Recently put into a new acid free mount.