Baalbec, from the South
1857
Medium
Albumen print, pl. 16 from the album "Egypt and Palestine, Volume I" (1858)
Dimensions
Image/paper: 15.5 × 23.4 cm (6 1/8 × 9 1/4 in.); Album page: 29 × 42.6 cm (11 7/16 × 16 13/16 in.)
Classification
photograph
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
157948
Art Historical Context
Step into the sun-drenched ruins of Baalbec, an ancient city in modern-day Lebanon, through Francis Frith's captivating *Baalbec, from the* (1857). This albumen print, plate 16 from Frith's landmark album *Egypt and Palestine Volume I* (1858), offers a panoramic view from the south, showcasing the monumental Roman temples that have awed travelers for centuries. Frith, a pioneering British photographer, ventured into the Middle East during the 1850s, capturing remote sites with a keen eye for their timeless grandeur. As one of the era's foremost travel photographers, Frith's work bridged photo...
About the Artist
Francis Frith · 1822–1898
Francis Frith (1822–1898) was born on 7 October 1822 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, into a prosperous Quaker merchant family as the second child and only son of Francis Frith Sr. and Alice Walker. Educated at Quaker schools including Ackworth and Camp Hill in Birmingham from around 1828 to 1838, he apprenticed in the cutlery trade before establishing himself as a wholesale grocer in Liverpool, suppl...