Vue générale prise à l'angle sud-ouest, Philoe (1849–50): Art, History and Details

Vue générale prise à l'angle sud-ouest, Philoe (1849–50) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Maxime Du Camp (French, 1822–1894).

The work and its context

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

The Temple of Isis at Philae (spelled Philoe by Du Camp) was built on an island 380–362 BC in the Nile. Following construction of the Lower Aswan Dam in 1902, it was reconstructed on a nearby island. This photograph by Du Camp is not only a picturesque image of historically significant ruins but also shows the temple as it looked when still in its original site.

Object facts

• Title: Vue générale prise à l'angle sud-ouest, Philoe
• Date: 1849–50
• Creator attribution: Maxime Du Camp (French, 1822–1894)
• Culture: France, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: Salted paper print, Blanquart-Évrard process
• Dimensions: Image: 16.7 x 22.4 cm (6 9/16 x 8 13/16 in.); Paper: 16.7 x 22.4 cm (6 9/16 x 8 13/16 in.); Mounted: 30.6 x 44.3 cm (12 1/16 x 17 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - French 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2022.19

A detail from the museum

Maxime Du Camp was the first photographer to depict the marvels of ancient Egypt.

Collection credit

Severance and Greta Millikin Purchase Fund

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.