Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898)
Euphrosyne Cassavetti
William Holman Hunt (1827-1910)
Rocks at Wady Zuara, the Dead Sea
Pencil; signed and inscribed at a later date 'W Holman Hunt/ '54'; further inscribed '½ scale'
7 ¾ x 5 ½ inches
£3,200
Provenance
The Artist, by descent to Mrs Elizabeth Burt. Burt Sale, Sotheby's London October 10 1985, part of Lot 30 to John Constable
Exhibitions
On deposit at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1965-1985
Literature
W. Holman Hunt ,'Painting the Scapegoat' Contemporary Review, LII July 1887 p. 32.;
W. Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, 1st. edition 1905, pp. 477-8, reproduced p. 477 (detail);
W. Holman Hunt, Pre-Raphaelitism and the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, 2nd edition, 1913, pp 319, 321, 322 reproduced (detail);
Bronkhurst, Catalogue Raisoné, L55, p 217 reproduced
In January 1854 Hunt travelled to the Holy Land in search of accurate topographical and ethnographical material for paintings, and to employ his ‘powers to make more tangible Jesus Christ’s history and teaching.’ This drawing was done during Hunt's visit of November 1854 to the southern end of the Dead Sea. His encampment was two miles to the north-west of Usdum, where the background of The Scapegoat was painted. Hunt recorded in his journal that, 'We commenced our preparations to depart before light. While all was being packed I took the opportunity of finishing a rough sketch I had commenced of the natural chamber in the rocks to the right of the Wady which is a good example of architectural character of the forms of the mass which have been acted upon by perhaps a torrent or some violent agency'.
