Absalom's Pillar, Kidron Valley, Jerusalem, Antique View with Goats, circa 1850

The monument known as the Tomb of Absalom in the Kidron Valley at Jerusalem, an original antique steel engraving, uncolored, circa 1850. The caption below the image reads DAS ABSALONSCHE MAUSOLEUM, that is, the Absalom mausoleum.

The monument stands at the left of center against the rock face, a square block with engaged columns and a frieze, crowned by a drum and a tall conical cap ending in a finial; a robed figure sits at its foot. A thin crescent moon hangs in the sky above. Fallen and squared stone blocks lie in the lower left corner, and a flock of goats and sheep rests and grazes across the foreground and along the path behind. The valley runs away into the distance at the center, and at the upper right a crenellated wall crowns the steep hillside, with a bridge of several arches below it at the lower right.

No artist or engraver is named on the plate. The imprint at lower left reads Aus d. Kunstanst. d. Bibliogr. Instit. in Hildbh. (from the art works of the Bibliographisches Institut in Hildburghausen), and at lower right Eigenthum d. Verleger (property of the publishers).

The sheet comes from a dealer's album rather than from a bound set. Meyer's Universum was a serial collection of engraved views with descriptive text, published by Joseph Meyer's Bibliographisches Institut at Hildburghausen from 1833, its plates engraved on steel. The monument stands in the Kidron Valley below the walls of Jerusalem and has long been associated by tradition with Absalom, the son of King David.

Handling soiling along the left and top edges. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Corners and edges are not shown by this scan. Clean, even paper tone in the margin.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.