14. Mosquée el Hakem, au Kaire
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 22 3/8 × 15 5/8 in. (56.9 × 39.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Joyce F. Menschel Photography Library Fund, 2017
Accession Number
2017.66.3
Art Historical Context
This striking lithograph captures the Mosque of al-Hakim in Cairo, one of the most important Fatimid monuments in Islamic architecture. Created in 1843 by French artist and scholar Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey, the print reflects the growing European fascination with Egypt and the broader Middle East during the early nineteenth century. Girault de Prangey traveled extensively through the region, producing some of the earliest photographic records of its monuments; this lithograph likely draws on those pioneering visual observations. As a lithograph rather than a photograph, the work de...
About the Artist
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey · 1804–1892
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804–1892), born in Langres, France, as the sole surviving child of Claude Joseph Girault and Barbe Philiberte Rosine Piétrequin, inherited the lordships of Genevrières and Prangey, adopting his full surname in 1825. After studies at Langres college and in Paris, where he earned baccalauréats in letters (1826) and law (1828), he pursued artistic training under ...