Frère began his career painting French landscape scenes, but after a stay in Algeria in 1837, he exhibited only scenes and landscapes of North Africa and the Middle East. In 1861 he made his final visit to the eastern Mediterranean, traveling in the party of the Empress Eugénie. It is thought that Frère exhibited this painting at the Salon of 1881 as "View of Jerusalem from the Valley of the Jehoshaphat."

It was undoubtedly executed from an earlier study or a photograph. The meticulous style, similar to that of Gérôme, was based on the technique and paint handling of Ingres and his pupils.

Inscription: Signed and inscribed (lower right): TH. FRERE. / JÉRUSALEM. TERRE SAINTE. (Holy Land)

Catharine Lorillard Wolfe, New York (until d. 1887)

Paris. Salon. May 2, 1881–?, no. 925bis (as "Jérusalem, vue prise de la vallée de Josaphat"; possibly this picture).

Phoenix Art Museum. "Aspects of the Desert: The Dedication of the Phoenix Art Museum," November 14, 1959–January 31, 1960, no. 27.

Hempstead, N.Y. Emily Lowe Gallery, Hofstra University. "Art Pompier: Anti-Impressionism, 19th Century French Salon Painting," October 22–December 15, 1974, no. 42.

London. Royal Academy of Arts. "The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse: European Painters in North Africa and the Near East," March 24–May 27, 1984, no. 23 (as "Jerusalem, View from the Valley of Jehoshaphat").

Washington. National Gallery of Art. "The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse: The Allure of North Africa and the Near East," July 1–October 28, 1984, no. 23 (as "Jerusalem, View from the Valley of Jehoshaphat").

The Art Treasures of America. reprint, 1977. New York, 1879, vol. 1, p. 134, as "Jerusalem, from Mount of Olives".

Catalogue of the Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1898, p. 152, no. 496, states that it was painted to order.

Charles Sterling, and Margaretta M. Salinger. "XIX Century." French Paintings: A Catalogue of the Collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2, New York, 1966, p. 146, ill., note that it was possibly exhibited at the Salon of 1881.

David L. Shirey. "'Art Pompier' Revived at Hofstra." New York Times (November 3, 1974), p. 134.

Donald A. Rosenthal. Orientalism: The Near East in French Painting 1800–1880. Exh. cat., Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester. Rochester, N.Y., 1982, pp. 104, 121, fig. 104, comments that it may be based on photographs by Frère or others.

Jane Munro in The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse, The Allure of North Africa and the Near East. Exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, London. New York, 1984, p. 133, no. 23, ill. [British edition, "The Orientalists: Delacroix to Matisse, European Painters in North Africa and the Near East," London, 1984, p. 131, no. 21], calls it "Jerusalem, View from the Valley of Jehoshaphat" and dates it 1881; notes that it was possibly exhibited at the Salon of 1881; suggests that it was painted from the Mount of Olives to the northeast of the city and identifies the Golden Gate, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Hamra minaret, and the Turkish wall.