Name of Object:

Interior of the Great Temple at Baalbec

Location:

Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (Sharjah)

Holding Institution:

Sharjah Art Museum / Sharjah Museums Authority

 About Sharjah Museums Authority, Sharjah

Date of Object:

Printed 1836–1838

Author:

Drawn by William Henry Bartlett; engraved by Ebenezar Challis (William Henry Bartlett: 26/3/1809, London-William Henry Bartlett: 13/9/1854, Off the coast of Malta)

Inventory Number:

SM 2006 - 789

Material(s) / Technique(s):

Steel engraving

Dimensions:

Height 160 mm, width 210 mm

Provenance:

London

Description:

This view into the interior of the Temple of Bacchus at Baalbek, Lebanon originally formed appeared in 'Syria, The Holy Land, Asia Minor, &c', illustrated views printed in 3 series over 2 volumes (37 plates, 37 plates, and 48 plates for each series respectively) including maps and title pages. The publication resulted from the 1836-1838 collaboration between the painter William Henry Bartlett, the engraver Ebenezer Challis and the Publishers Fisher, Son and Co. The architectural and artistic details they recorded subsequently inspired European Neoclassical architects and artists such as Robert Adam, who based one of the ceilings at Osterley House on the ceiling of the Temple of Bacchus and the portico of St George's, Bloomsbury on its portico. Since the 1860s, many tourists visited the site, including, in 1898, the German emperor Wilhelm II. Struck by the magnificence of the ruins, he dispatched a German archaeological team, whose subsequent work resulted in a meticulous, illustrated publication that further popularised the site.

Citation of this web page:

Ulrike al-Khamis "Interior of the Great Temple at Baalbec" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;ua;7;en

Prepared by: Ulrike Al-Khamis

MWNF Working Number: UA 007