David Roberts in Egypt and Nubia. Unpacking the Orientalist Lithographs that Defined an Age

Document Type

Book

Publication Date

2024

Abstract

David Roberts’ lithographs of Egypt, Nubia, and the “Holy Land” (1842–49) remain among the most widely recognised visual representations of the region. Their enduring popularity derives from the apparent accuracy of his meticulously detailed views, the exceptional chromatic quality of early lithographic printing, and the dramatic Romantic settings that appealed strongly to 19th-century sensibilities. Framed through a picturesque lens, these images offered early “postcards” of an exoticised Orient, satisfying Western desires to view and consume ancient monuments, crowded streets, and idealised scenes of daily life. Roberts epitomises the Victorian Orientalist painter: market-oriented, theatrically inclined, and shaped by the ethnocentric attitudes accompanying European colonial expansion. Although photography soon surpassed lithography as a medium promising greater realism, interest in Roberts’ work revived in the late 20th century, when his imaginative, emotionally charged visions once again appealed to audiences disenchanted with the starkness of photographic “truth.” His images endure as nostalgic renderings of a culturally constructed Orient.

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