Door to the Church, Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai
Watercolour
1843 (painted)
1843 (painted)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Lewis visited Sinai in 1843, and may have met Lady Louisa Tenison who was also there that year. This ancient and spectacularly situated Monastery had only survived because of its inaccessibility in the mountains. Lewis has faithfully reproduced the graffiti of generations of travellers and pilgrims scrawled on the church door in this holy place.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Door to the Church, Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil and brown wash, heightened with white |
| Brief description | Watercolour, Door to the Church, Monastery of St. Catherine, Sinai, 1843, by John Frederick Lewis |
| Physical description | Watercolour drawing |
| Dimensions |
|
| Styles | |
| Marks and inscriptions | Inscribed and dated Door to the Chapel Mt. Sinai April 1843 J.F. Lewis to Lady Louisa Tenison |
| Gallery label | John Frederick Lewis 1804/5-1876
Door to the Church, Monastery of St Catherine, Sinai
1843
The monastery of St Catherine was founded in the 6th century. It is a spectacular position in the mountains and has only survived because of its inaccessibility. Lewis visited St Catherine's in 1843. He has faithfully reproduced the graffiti of generations of travellers and pilgrims to this holy place.
Pencil and brown wash, heightened with white, with an accidental smudge of ink above the door
Purchased 1985
Museum no. SD.583 |
| Credit line | Purchased with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Art Fund, Shell International and the Friends of the V&A |
| Object history | According to Rodney Searight: - `Bt Christie's via Fine Art Society, March 31st 1978 [(236)], £385 '. |
| Historical context | Several drawings of the Convent of Mount Sinai appeared in the artist's sale of 1877, including 'Door to the Chapel of the Convent of Mount Sinai with the names of the pilgrims carved thereon' (250), presumably similar to (or possibly identifiable with) SD.583. Lewis visited Sinai in 1843 (possibly also in 1842 and 1847: (see Major-General J.M. Lewis, CBE, John Frederick Lewis, R.A. 1805-1876, Leigh-on-Sea, 1978, p.21 & n.9) and may have met or even travelled with Lady Louisa Tenison who was also there that year. A portrait of her by him was in the artist's sale, 1877 (346). Ten years later Lewis supervised the lithography of Lady Louisa's drawings in her Castile and Andalucia, 1853. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | Lewis visited Sinai in 1843, and may have met Lady Louisa Tenison who was also there that year. This ancient and spectacularly situated Monastery had only survived because of its inaccessibility in the mountains. Lewis has faithfully reproduced the graffiti of generations of travellers and pilgrims scrawled on the church door in this holy place. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | SD.583 |
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| Record created | February 27, 2008 |
| Record URL |
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