Edfou (Apollonopolis Magna), Vue Générale du Temple
1851–52, printed 1853–54
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
23.9 x 30.4 cm. (9 7/16 x 12 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1976
Accession Number
1976.607.75
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sun-drenched ruins of ancient Egypt with Félix Teynard's *Edfou (Apollon Magna), Vue Générale Temple* (1851–52, printed 1853–). This salted paper print captures a sweeping vista of the Temple of Edfu, one of the best-preserved ancient Egyptian structures dedicated to the falcon-headed god Horus. Built during the Ptolemaic period (237–57 BCE), the temple's massive sandstone columns and pylons stand as monumental testaments to pharaonic grandeur, evoking the Nile Valley's sacred past amid 19th-century archaeological fervor. Teynard, a pioneering French photographer, documented Egy...
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...