Open full image Pin

Grand Cairo

David RA Roberts

1839

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Orientalism Romanticism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Grand Cairo is a 1839 watercolor by David RA Roberts, a Orientalism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: David RA Roberts
When & what style?: 1839 · Orientalism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This watercolor by Roberts shows Cairo in 1839, painted at a high viewpoint. He used soft pinks to pick out domes and minarets against the city’s low skyline. Roberts thought he was looking from a gate called Citizenib, but he was really at Tel Zaynum. The scene includes tombs, mosques, and the Citadel in the distance. Look up Roberts, David RA next.

The story of this work

Overview

The watercolor *Grand Cairo* by David Roberts depicts a panoramic view of Cairo from a high vantage point, likely Tel Zaynum south of the city rather than the incorrectly named Citizenib. The composition features prominent landmarks in the foreground, including the tombs of Fatimah Khatun and Sultan Khalil, an unidentified and now destroyed mosque or tomb, and the mosque of Sayidah Nafisah, with the Citadel and the Madrasah of Sultan Hassan visible in the background. The scene is characterized by the varied contours of domes and minarets, bathed in a delicate pink glow. The work was later…

Read the full account in the museum source.