Jerusalem by the Brush
Amos Mar-Haim
Jerusalem, the Holy City, has always been the subject of
drawings and illustrations. However, in spite of its importance
as the focus of prayer and yearning, few of those who drew
Jerusalem had actually visited the city. Cornelius de Bruyn
was an exception; he drew Jerusalem exactly as he saw it in
1681. nevertheless, for decades afterwards, cartographers and
artists gave free rein to their imaginations, depicting Jerusalem
as a Byzantine castle or a European fortress.
Interest in Jerusalem burgeoned in the early nineteenth century.
The decline of the Ottoman sultanate paved the way for increasing
attention to Jerusalem on the part of more powerful countries,
thanks to its importance as a religious site, its geopolitical
centrality, and its rich archaeological and historical legacy.
However, since most of the contemporary powers were allies of
the Turkish sultan, politically acceptable methods were used to
express this interest. European countries opened consulates to
look after the interests of foreign residents; sponsored
archaeological expeditions which began to survey, research,
and excavate; opened national hostels for pilgrims; founded
postal services; and set up many religious foundations. These
institutions attracted diplomats, priests, archaeologists, engineers,
noblemen, tourists, journal-writers, and in additions, artists,
painters, and photographers.
Artists who painted Jerusalem in the nineteenth century came
from many countries and from different cultures. Some were sent
by diplomats: Louis Francois Cassas (1756-1827) came to Jerusalem as an envoy of the French consul in Constantinople, and in 1788 produced impressive and detailed engravings of the city in the classical style. Luigi Mayer (1755-1803) visited Jerusalem at
the same time as an envoy of Sir Roberts Ainslie, the British
consul in Constantinople (Istanbul), and depicted Jerusalem in
a series of colourful aquatints, which were published from
1803 onwards; his work is characterized by an endearing an naive charm.
Men of noble birth who were famous in their own right came
from France. Louis Nicolas Philippe Auguste, Comte de Forbin (1771-1841), was a painter and a man of the arts, who directed the national museums in France, and expanded the Louvre. Forbin was among the first to use the lithography technique. An album that he published in 1819, A Journey to the Levant, included most impressive depictions of sites in Jerusalem. The Marquis Leon Emmanuel Simon Joseph de Laborde (1807-1869), who had
also been a director of the Louvre, portrayed Jerusalem in all of its
beauty in a series of lithographs that were publish in 1830-33.
Another French painter was Alexandre Bida (1813-95), one of
Delacroix's students, who visited Jerusalem in 1855; his wonderful
painting of the Western Wall is generally considered the best
painting of the site.
Among the British artists who painted Jerusalem, the most
outstanding is Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), although he never actually visited the city. He relied on sketches done by other artists, among them Sir Charles Barry (1795-1860), a well-known architect. Turner's engravings were published in 1835-37, to critical acclaim.
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