Egypt and Nubia, Volume II: Fragments of the Great Colossi at the Memnonium, Thebes (1847): Art, History and Details

Egypt and Nubia, Volume II: Fragments of the Great Colossi at the Memnonium, Thebes (1847) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Louis Haghe (British, 1806–1885); F. G. Moon, 20 Threadneedle Street, London; David Roberts (Scottish, 1796–1864).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

By the mid-19th century, the complexities of printing in numerous colors had been mastered, culminating in one of the high points of European printmaking. The plates drawn by Haghe, which copy the watercolors that David Roberts made in Egypt, are exquisite examples of color lithography. Egypt was a distant, mysterious country for Europeans and Haghe, a Scottish topographical and architectural artist who spent the year of 1838 traveling across this ancient land. The resulting prints—the first comprehensive series of views of the monuments, landscapes, and people of the Near East—were especially appreciated for their brilliant color and large scale. Collector John Bonebrake’s 134 prints of Egypt are an important addition to the Cleveland Museum of Art’s collection, and in a sense they have returned home: a large group of them was loaned to the 1992 exhibition Nineteenth-Century Views of Egypt.

Object facts

• Title: Egypt and Nubia, Volume II: Fragments of the Great Colossi at the Memnonium, Thebes
• Date: 1847
• Creator attribution: Louis Haghe (British, 1806–1885); F. G. Moon, 20 Threadneedle Street, London; David Roberts (Scottish, 1796–1864)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Print
• Technique: color lithograph
• Dimensions: Sheet: 43.4 x 60.4 cm (17 1/16 x 23 3/4 in.); Image: 34.8 x 51 cm (13 11/16 x 20 1/16 in.)
• Collection: PR - Lithograph
• Department: Prints
• Accession number: 2012.149

Collection credit

Bequest of John Bonebrake

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.