Sepulchre of the Kings of Judah, near Jerusalem

Location

Country: Israel
City: Tel Aviv
Place: British Embassy

Luigi Mayer was described as 'Roman by birth'. However, little is known of his early life. His family may have come from Switzerland, before later settling in Rome. He is thought to have been a pupil of the Accademia di San Luca and an assistant to etcher and architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Mayer probably left Rome for Naples and Sicily in the early 1770s, when he reputedly worked for the King of Naples. By 1778 he was employed by Prince Biscari, a Sicilian collector and antiquarian based in Catania. It may have been at Biscari's residence that Mayer was introduced to future patron Sir Robert Ainslie, British Ambassador at Constantinople. Mayer later established himself in London, where he published several series of aquatints.

Places

Middle East, Israel, Jerusalem

Subjects

topography, landscape C18th, tree, man, gravestone, stone wall, path, tomb/sepulchre/mausoleum, archway

Materials & Techniques

paper (as artists material), watercolour (as artists materials), gouache (as artists material), pencil, gouache (as object name), watercolour (as object name)

Artist

Luigi Mayer (c.1755 - 1803)

Title

Sepulchre of the Kings of Judah, near Jerusalem

Date

c.1793-1794

Medium

Pencil, watercolour and gouache, on paper

Dimensions

height: 47.50 cm, width: 65.00 cm

Acquisition

Purchased from Eyre & Hobhouse, September 1984

Inscription

sbl&ins

Provenance

Commissioned by Sir Robert Ainslie (1730-1812) HMA to Constantinople; purchased from Eyre & Hobhouse, September 1984

GAC number

16282