David Roberts (1796–1864), The Temple of Horus at Edfu
, Watercolor, pen and black ink and pencil, heightened with white, on light brown wove paper, Purchased on the Fellows Fund
, 1977.26
This drawing is a study for the lithograph Portico of the Temple of Edfou, Upper Egypt, that appeared in Roberts's and Brockedon's Egypt and Nubia of 1846. Roberts, who was at Edfu in 1838, made at least five drawings there. In his journal he described the scene: "Though half buried it is more beautiful than if laid open and reminds me of Piranesi's Etchings of the Forum of Rome."