This 20in x 2ft 7in (49 x 81cm) watercolour and pencil with gum arabic scene by Gavrila Sergeyevich Sergeyev (c. 1765-1816) is titled in Cyrillic to the lower margin as A General View of the City of Jerusalem and its Environs Captured from the Western Side of the Mount of Olives.
It is thought to have been painted following the artist’s visit to Turkey and the Middle East in 1793-94 as part of the Russian Emergency Mission, under the command of the officer and diplomat Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov. An apparent companion piece, evidently by the same hand and depicting Jerusalem, is in the Khalili Collection.
At Lawrences of Crewkerne on January 17 the estimate is £3000-5000.
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