The remains of the church of Saint John the Theologian in Pergamon

Description

Featured in the 1836 collaborative work of Thomas Allom and Robert Walsh, this steel engraving depicts the magnificent ancient structure in Pergamon (Bergama), widely known as the 'Red Basilica' (Kızıl Avlu), and the ruins of the Church of Saint John. While the composition centers on the monumentality of ancient Roman and Byzantine architecture with its massive brick walls and towers, it aesthetically brings together the static heritage of the past and the continuously vibrant commercial life of Anatolia through the camel caravan passing in the shadow of this historical structure in the foreground.