Plate 84 Shrine of the Nativity, Bethlehem - After David Roberts
Roberts drew this composition on the 6th April 1839.
'The Shrine of the Nativity, where Greek Orthodox monks now officiate, is a small and cramped space, its walls partially sheathed in marble yet quite stark when compared with the opulence usually found in Greek Orthodox churches. In a small apse, the altar of the Nativity of Christ, is adorned with fifteen silver lamps - symbolising the various denominations of Christianity - and with a silver star, marking the point where Jesus is thought to have been born. Upon the star, which represents the comet sighted by the Magi, a Latin inscription explains simply: "His De Virgine Maria Jesus Christus Natus Est."
Along the sides of the grotto, one after the other, are two small altars: one is the altar of the Manger, in which the Infant Jesus was laid for a crib, the other is the altar of the Magi, who came here to adore the Christ Child. Tradition has it that the original Manger, brought to Rome at the orders of Pope Sixtus V, is now found in a side chapel of Santa Maria Maggiore. David Roberts writes that, just as he was drawing the interior of the Shrine, a man arrived from Jerusalem carrying the sacred flame; immediately all of the Greek Orthodox faithful clustered around the herald in order to light their lamps at the flame of divine origins. Roberts's drawing emphasises the many oil lamps, left as gifts by Christian pilgrims, which then softened the setting with their gentle light, as they do today.' [1]
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 November 1st 1842.
Medium: Original First Edition Lithograph, with later hand-colouring on thick woven paper.
Half Plate 84.
Inscribed l.r. 'David Roberts R.A.' and l.l. 'Shrine of the Nativity Bethlehem April 6th 1839', 24.4 x 33.1cm (lithograph size), mounted (42.4 x 51.4cm).
The original title is visible through a cut out on the mount 'Shrine of the Nativity' and the original text from the publication in 1842 is included attached to the back of the mount.
References:
[1] Fabio Bourbon (ed). Yesterday and Today: The Holy Land. Swan Hill Press: London, 1996, p.160. Translated by A.B.A. Milano.
Condition report: very good for its age. A few small markings and time staining particularly obvious in the margins of the plate, please see photos. Recently put into a new acid free mount.