The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 25, 2024

Thebes, The Colossi of Memnon

Thebes, The Colossi of Memnon

1870s
Image: 36 x 26.9 cm (14 3/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Paper: 36 x 26.9 cm (14 3/16 x 10 9/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
Location: not on view

Description

As more photographers shot the same monuments,depictions became formulaic.Numerous photographers produced almost identical images,as demonstrated in these two views of the Colossi of Memnon. Shot from different sides but about the same distance, both images employ an angled view and use Egyptian servants and guides as local color and indexes of scale. Captions and artists’ signatures were often written in reverse on the negatives so that they would automatically become part of each print. Sometimes, as in the Beato image, the artist or his assistant was care less.
  • Vandenbeusch, Marie, Aude Semat, and Margaret Maitland. Pharaoh: King of Ancient Egypt. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art ; London : The British Museum, 2016. Mentioned: p. 25; Reproduced: p. 24, fig. 14
  • Pyramids & Sphinxes: Views of Egypt. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 6-May 24, 2016).
  • {{cite web|title=Thebes, The Colossi of Memnon|url=false|author=Henri Béchard|year=1870s|access-date=25 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2006.119