By David Bomberg, 1924

During his work with the Sinai Survey Lawrence visited Petra for the first time. Afterwards he described it in a letter to E. T. Leeds as 'the most wonderful place in the world, not for the sake of its ruins, which are quite a secondary affair, but for the colour of its rocks, all red and black and grey with streaks of green and blue, in little wriggly lines . . . and for the shape of its cliffs and crags and pinnacles, and for the wonderful gorge it has, always running deep in spring-water, full of oleanders, and ivy and ferns, and only just wide enough for a camel at a time, and a couple of miles long. But I have read hosts of most beautifully written accounts of it, and they give one no idea of it at all . . . and I am sure I cannot write nearly as nicely as they have . . . so you will never knew what Petra is like, unless you come out here . . . Only be assured that till you have seen it you have not had the glimmering of an idea how beautiful a place can be.'¹

David Bomberg, who had originally come out to Palestine under the auspices of the Zionist Organisation, painted many scenes at Petra in 1924. This tour was arranged by Ronald Storrs, at that time Governor of Jerusalem and Judea.

1. T. E. Lawrence to E. T. Leeds, 28.2.1914, DG p. 167.

Oil on canvas, 51.2 x 61

Signed br.: Bomberg 24

Provenance: Purchased from the Leicester Galleries, 1928.

Literature: M. Chamot, Modern Painting in England, 1937, ill.pl. 22; R. Storrs, Orientations, 1937, p. 495; City Museum and Art Gallery Birmingham, Catalogue of Paintings, 1969, p. 12.