Open full image Pin

Lateral Elevation of the Typhonium at Dendera

David RA Roberts

1848

watercolor

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

British Romanticism Romanticism Early 19th Century

Dominant colour

Lateral Elevation of the Typhonium at Dendera is a 1848 watercolor by David RA Roberts, a British Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: David RA Roberts
When & what style?: 1848 · British Romanticism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

This sketch shows a half-ruined temple with tall columns and broken stone blocks scattered around. The sky is pale and flat, with a few faint clouds. A lone figure stands near the ruins, looking small against the big stones. The artist focused on how old buildings look when they’re falling apart. The title says this is a temple at Dendera, but the sketch feels more like a quiet study than a grand scene. Check out the Victoria and Albert Museum to see more sketches like this.

The story of this work

Overview

This watercolour by David Roberts depicts a lateral elevation of the Typhonium at Dendera, showing the Roman Mammisi in front of a Christian Basilica, with the Temple of Hathor visible in the left background. Created in 1848, it may have been adapted from an earlier sketch for reproduction as a lithograph by Louis Haghe in 1855. Roberts visited the site on two occasions in 1838, taking measurements and making drawings during his travels along the Nile. The work was later acquired in 1972 from Prue Heathcote-Williams through Roland Beckett's Alpine Gallery.

Read the full account in the museum source.