Artist: James Duffield Harding (1797–1863), after a sketch by William Page (1794–1872)
Engraver: William Finden (1787–1852)
Technique: Original Antique Steel Engraving
Dimensions: Plate: 9.5x14.4 cm | Page: 15.5x23.4 cm
Status: Authentic 1835 print, explicit text attribution on the lower plate border, plate 58
Publisher: John Murray, London (Sold also by Charles Tilt)
About the Artwork:
This authentic antique steel engraving, published in 1835, provides an expansive elevated view of Smyrna (modern-day Izmir, Turkey), one of the prominent ancient cities of Anatolia and home to one of the Seven Churches of Asia from the Book of Revelation chapter two, verses eight to eleven. The scene was composed by the leading English landscape artist James Duffield Harding, based on an on-the-spot field sketch by the traveler and painter William Page. Engraved by William Finden, the composition looks down from a high hillside path featuring a traveler leading a horse, a prominent agave plant, and architectural ruins topped by a hilltop fortress. The panoramic background reveals the sprawling coastal city, the Gulf of Smyrna, and distant mountain ranges under a dramatic, cloudy sky. This plate is sourced from Landscape Illustrations of the Bible.
About the Artists:
James Duffield Harding (1797–1863): A major British landscape painter, lithographer, and teacher celebrated for his technical drafting skills and work alongside John Ruskin.
William Page (1794–1872): An English topographical artist who traveled extensively through Greece, Turkey, and the Near East, recording accurate architectural field studies.
William Finden (1787–1852): A master London line engraver famed for his exceptional fine-line precision on steel plates for top-tier illustrated books.