Kôm-Ombou (Ombos), Vue Générale des Ruines
1851–52, printed 1853–54
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
23.8 x 30.7 cm. (9 3/8 x 12 1/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1976
Accession Number
1976.607.79
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sun-baked sands of ancient Egypt with Félix Teynard's *Kôm-Ombou (Ombos), Vue Générale des Ruines*, a captivating salted paper print from 1851–52, printed 1853–54. This 23.8 x 30.7 cm photograph captures a sweeping vista of the majestic ruins at Kom Ombo, a Ptolemaic temple complex on the Nile's east bank dedicated to the crocodile god Sobek and falcon-headed Haroeris. Teynard, a pioneering French photographer, documented these architectural marvels during a mid-19th-century expedition, blending scientific precision with artistic vision amid Europe's Egyptomania craze. Crafted v...
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...