100 Things That Still Make Being Me Just That Bit Better... 92
The lithographs by David Roberts of Egypt and the Holy Lands (1838-40)
For years, Sis and I bought large art calendars for the kitchen and dining room - and we both loved Roberts' art: deeply romantic, delicate yet luminous, wonderfully expressive while coolly remote, somehow catching the feeling of both timeless serenity and long-gone antiquity in the detailed (and extremely accurate) depiction of both the architecture and ruins, and of the daily life of people living in and around them.
I have also collected copies of my favourites, and we are using them as a shifting wallpaper on our new computer: the copies I've linked to (all from the above site) aren't the ones I collected and use, but at the most they would be slightly different in colouring and size (being all wallpaper size), and as these are beautiful copies, I thought you might like them...
The Convent at St Saba [Mar Saba],
El Deir, Petra, (for sheer romance, can Petra be beat?)
The Island of Graia, Gulf of Akabah,
The Island of Philae by Sunset,
The Island of Philae, Looking Down the Nile.
Entrance to the Tombs of the Kings, Biban-al-Molook (yes, it's the Valley of the Kings, which ties in and echoes the frisson from one of my favourite documentary series ever, Ancient Lives),
General View of the Ruins of Luxor from the Nile,
...and my absolute favourite, the utterly magical and utterly crying out to be used as literary inspiration The Dead Sea, looking toward Moab (as soon as I can think of a plot, yes... where is Clark Ashton Smith or Indiana Jones when you need their help???)
...Or just a lovely way to start and finish the typing day.
For years, Sis and I bought large art calendars for the kitchen and dining room - and we both loved Roberts' art: deeply romantic, delicate yet luminous, wonderfully expressive while coolly remote, somehow catching the feeling of both timeless serenity and long-gone antiquity in the detailed (and extremely accurate) depiction of both the architecture and ruins, and of the daily life of people living in and around them.
I have also collected copies of my favourites, and we are using them as a shifting wallpaper on our new computer: the copies I've linked to (all from the above site) aren't the ones I collected and use, but at the most they would be slightly different in colouring and size (being all wallpaper size), and as these are beautiful copies, I thought you might like them...
The Convent at St Saba [Mar Saba],
El Deir, Petra, (for sheer romance, can Petra be beat?)
The Island of Graia, Gulf of Akabah,
The Island of Philae by Sunset,
The Island of Philae, Looking Down the Nile.
Entrance to the Tombs of the Kings, Biban-al-Molook (yes, it's the Valley of the Kings, which ties in and echoes the frisson from one of my favourite documentary series ever, Ancient Lives),
General View of the Ruins of Luxor from the Nile,
...and my absolute favourite, the utterly magical and utterly crying out to be used as literary inspiration The Dead Sea, looking toward Moab (as soon as I can think of a plot, yes... where is Clark Ashton Smith or Indiana Jones when you need their help???)
...Or just a lovely way to start and finish the typing day.