| Method | Lithograph with tint stone |
| Artist | after David Roberts |
| Published | London, Published Decr. 15th. 1856 by Day & Son, Gate Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields |
| Dimensions | Image 140 x 210 mm, Sheet 205 x 290 mm |
| Notes |
Plate 249 from Volume 6 of the small format reprint of Roberts' The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia. A view of the main entrance to the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan in the citadel of Cairo, Egypt. The mosque and madrassa (educational centre) was built by the otherwise unremarkable Mamluk Sultan Hassan in the mid fourteenth century. The mosque was praised for housing a number of architectural wonders, and for the speed in which the massive structure was completed. The mosque was particularly celebrated for the extravagant decoration of its interior, and was positioned so that the central courtyard could be seen by the Sultan from his palace terraces. In Roberts view, the square before the mosque is filled with crowds of locals, camel-riding travellers, and pilgrims, who have set up small encampments on the square. David Roberts RA (24th October 1796 – 25th November 1864) was a Scottish painter. He is especially known for a prolific series of detailed prints of Egypt and the Near East produced during the 1840s from sketches made during long tours of the region (1838-1840). This work, and his large oil paintings of similar subjects, made him a prominent Orientalist painter. He was elected as a Royal Academician in 1841. The firm of Day & Haghe was one of the most prominent lithographic companies of the nineteenth-century. They were also amongst the foremost pioneers in the evolution of chromolithography. The firm was established in 1823 by William Day, but did not trade under the moniker of Day & Haghe until the arrival of Louis Haghe in 1831. In 1838, Day & Haghe were appointed as Lithographers to the Queen. However, and perhaps owing to the fact that there was never a formal partnership between the two, Haghe left the firm in the 1850's to devote himself to watercolour painting. The firm continued as Day & Son under the guidance of William Day the younger (1823 - 1906) but, as a result of a scandal involving Lajos Kossuth, was forced into liquidation in 1867. Vincent Brookes bought the company in the same year, and would produce the caricatures for Gibson Bowles' Vanity Fair magazine, as well as the illustrations for Cassells's Poultry Book, amongst other commissions. Condition: Foxing to sheet. Large chip to bottom edge of sheet, not affecting image. |
| Framing | unmounted |
| Price | £25.00 |
| Stock ID | 39076 |