Karnak (Thèbes), Avenue de Sphinx - Vue Générale Prise du Point G
1851–52, printed 1853–54
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
24.1 x 30.5 cm. (9 1/2 x 12 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1976
Accession Number
1976.607.67
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sun-drenched ruins of ancient Egypt with Félix Teynard's *Karnak (Thèbes), Avenue de Sphinx Vue Générale Prise Point G* (1851–52, printed 1853–). Captured during Teynard's pioneering expedition to Egypt, this paper print offers a sweeping panoramic view of the Avenue of Sphinxes at the Karnak temple complex in Thebes (modern Luxor). Lining the sacred processional path, the sphinxes—hybrid guardians with human heads and lion bodies—stretch into the distance, evoking the grandeur of pharaonic rituals and the passage of millennia. As one of the earliest photographs of these iconic ...
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...