Le Kaire, Cimetière des Mamelouks
1851–52, printed 1853–54
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
24.0 x 30.0 cm. (9 7/16 x 11 13/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1976
Accession Number
1976.607.7
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the sun-drenched sands of 19th-century Egypt with Félix Teynard's *Le Kaire, Cimet des Mamelouks* (1851–52, printed 1853–), a salted paper print from a paper measuring 24 x 30 cm. Captured in Cairo's historic Mamluk Cemetery, this poignant photograph immortalizes the intricate tombs and minarets of the Mamlukselite warrior-rulers who governed Egypt from the 13th to 16th centuries. Teynard, a pioneering French photographer, ventured along the Nile during a golden age of exploration, blending scientific documentation with artistic vision. The salted paper process, an early calotype te...
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...