Djébel Selséleh (Silsilis), Steles Architecturales Taillées Dans les Carriéres
1851–52, printed 1853–54
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
23.5 x 30.3 cm. (9 1/4 x 11 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1976
Accession Number
1976.607.78
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sun-baked quarries of ancient Egypt with Félix Teynard's *Djébel Selséleh (Silsilis), Steles Architecturales Ta Dans les Carrié*, a captivating salted paper print from 1851–52, printed 185354. Captured at the Nile River site of Silsilis—known in antiquity as a sacred quarry—this image reveals monumental architectural steles hewn directly from the rock face. Teynard, a pioneering French photographer, documented these enduring ruins during his expedition along the Nile, blending archaeology with the dawn of photography to preserve Egypt's grandeur for modern eyes. This work exempl...
About the Artist
Félix Teynard|Imprimerie Photographique de H. de Fonteny et Cie · 1817–1892
**Félix Teynard (1817–1892)** was a pioneering French photographer whose work captured the ancient wonders of Egypt and Nubia with unprecedented precision and artistry. Born on January 14, 1817, in Saint-Flour, he trained as a civil engineer in Grenoble, a hub of Egyptology that likely sparked his fascination with ancient architecture. Little is documented about his early life or formal photograph...