Artwork
Temple of Sabooa - Nubia
Temple of Sabooa - Nubia is a watercolor work on paper by the Romanticist artist Frederick Catherwood. It dates from 1824 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Catherwood drew it during a trip up the Nile with a group of architects and travelers.
Frederick Catherwood painted Temple of Sabooa – Nubia in 1824. It’s a watercolor of an ancient rock-cut temple in Egypt. Catherwood drew it during a trip up the Nile with a group of architects and travelers.
His trip in 1823–24 was full of adventure. They used tools like a camera lucida to help with their sketches. The temple later had to be moved when a lake formed.
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Overview
Temple of Sabooa - Nubia is a watercolour painting created by Frederick Catherwood in 1824, depicting an ancient rock-cut temple in Egypt.
Subject & Meaning
The artwork specifically portrays the Temple of Ramesses II at Sabua, highlighting its architectural blend of rock-cut and constructed elements, capturing a moment in the temple's history before its relocation.
Technique & Style
Catherwood employed a camera lucida, a drawing aid that projects an image onto paper via a prism, to accurately sketch the temple's outline during his Nile journey, characteristic of his meticulous architectural draughtsmanship.
History & Provenance
Part of a collection from Catherwood's first Egyptian trip (1823-24) with companions including Henry Westcar, Henry Parke, and Joseph John Scoles, the watercolour later contributed to large panoramas in London.
Context
Created amidst the adventures of Catherwood's initial Nile expedition, the piece reflects early 19th-century European interest in Egyptian antiquities, preceding the temple's 1960s relocation due to Lake Nasser's formation.
Legacy
The watercolour, now part of the Searight Collection, exemplifies Catherwood's contributions to architectural illustration and the documentation of ancient sites, influencing later representations of Egyptian temples in various media.
Artist & collection
Artist
Frederick Catherwood was an English artist, architect and explorer, best remembered for his meticulously detailed drawings of the ruins of the Maya civilization.
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Egypt and Nubia, Volume I: General View of the Island of Philae, Nubia
Egypt and Nubia: Volume I - No. 42, Grand Approach to the Temple of Philae, Nubia
Egypt and Nubia, Volume II: Ruins - Temple on the Island of Biggeh, Nubia