The Dome of the Rock is the oldest Islamic monument that stands today and certainly one of the most beautiful. The shrine was built in the year 637 A.D and was completed in 691-692 A.D., making it the oldest existing Islamic building in the world. The shrine was intended to compete with many fine buildings of worship and rival Christian domes of its time.

The number of artists that travelled to Jerusalem to paint it reflected the keen interest with which Victorian public viewed images of the Holy City. As one critic remarked in his review of the 1845 Royal Academy exhibit by David Roberts, ‘The Jerusalem … seems his most popular landscape, possibly owing to the subject, which will never cease to be sought for with eager and reverential curiosity’ (The Athenaeum, 17 May 1845, p. 496). Since Jerusalem remains a holy site for Christians, Muslims and Jews alike, this sentiment is as pertinent today as it was more than a century and a half ago.

From Alfred Edward Emslie’s vantage point can be seen the site of the temple. Then to the east on the left-hand side is the 6th century Dome of Chain (Qubat es-Silsila), a domed hexagon with open arches, it is adjacent to the eastern gate of the Dome of Rock, and marks the exact centre of the Temple Mount. It is the only structure on the east side of the raised platform. Then further in the distance to the left of the artwork can be seen the Mount of Olives.

Emslie witnessed during Easter, Christian pilgrims from all parts of the East assemble at Jerusalem, from whence, accompanied by the Governor, and escorted by a strong guard, they proceeded in a body to bathe in the river Jordan.

This panoramic view by Emslie is unusual in that he does not divide a dark foreground from a bright background. Instead, he captures the sense of heat and light that covers the whole Temple area and then catches on the sides of the city dwellings.  A solitary figure in the foreground is added to give a sense of scale to this vast place.

Emslie infuses the scene with soft colours in one half and burning colours to the other, a vast sky, and a consistent level of detail throughout the picture. To the right is the vast city sprawling out with buildings packed together.

The Artist
Alfred Edward Emslie was an English genre and portrait painter, and photographer.

He was the son of the engraver, John Emslie, and brother of John Phillipps Emslie, the figure painter. Alfred Emslie studied at the Royal Academy Schools and then in Paris at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He married the miniature painter Rosalie M. Emslie and they had a daughter, Rosalie Emslie, who became a figure, portrait and landscape painter.

Emslie turned increasingly to portraiture later in life. He had a great passion for the Orient, and spent three months exploring Japan.

He was an elected an associate of the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1888 and a member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in 1892. Emslie exhibited in London at the Royal Academy between 1869 and 1897. Between 1897 and 1901, he painted a series of pictures illustrative of the theme “God is Love”. Nine large oil paintings from this series were exhibited at Towneley Hall in Burnley.

He won a bronze medal at the Exposition Universelle, Paris in 1889.

He also exhibited at the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, Royal Institute of Oil Painters, Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, Royal Miniature Society, Grosvenor Gallery, Dudley Gallery, New Gallery, Fine Art Society and Agnew & Sons Gallery, as well as at the Royal Society of British Artists.

Also, at the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists, Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, The Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour, Leicester Gallery, Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and Manchester City Art Gallery.