ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses 'imagined' reality, in the case of the Holy Land/Palestine the dividing line can be drawn between the Great Masters of European art, who had no preoccupation over the accuracy of the landscape which served as the background to their Biblical scenes and never went to the Middle East. British artists rediscovered the Holy Land on the occasion of the Palestine campaign in the First World War. The excitement of war combined with the exotic characters and grandiose landscapes of Palestine to inspire many official war artists. The Imperial War Museum has a number of photographs of important events, like the Jaffa Riot of 1933, but no major museum seems to possess any paintings or drawings from that period. The official war artist's scheme, known as the War Artists' Advisory Committee (WAAC), was revived during the Second World War, under the supervision of Sir Kenneth Clark, director of the National Gallery.
