Description:
two rows of large columns roofed over with two figures seated in the shade between them
Label Text:
In February 1876, Lockwood de Forest ventured into Thebes as part of his multi-month tour of Egypt. He worked extensively during this period and the material produced during this visit likely included depictions of the Ramesseum, a 13th Century BCE mortuary temple dedicated to Pharaoh Ramesses II and located near the West bank of the Nile River, across from modern day Luxor. Already in ruins by the time de Forest arrived, the artist found inspiration in the declining state of the ancient Egyptian architecture.
In the current example, de Forest portrays the famed, fallen Colossus of Ramesses II (known as “Ozymandias” after the 1817 Percy Shelley poem it inspired), highlighted by the Egyptian sun and framed by the roofed hypostyle hall, the columns of which are decorated with deteriorating illustrations of the Pharaoh’s military successes. The painting’s composition and masterful use of light are a testament to de Forest’s tutelage under Frederic Edwin Church (1826-1900), whose 1874 painting, El Khasne, Petra (oil on canvas, Olana State Historical Society), clearly influenced de Forest’s work. Both de Forest and Church’s architectural scenes have well-illuminated and central focal backgrounds, flanked on either side by indirectly lit, vertical elements.
Tags:
ruins; temples Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=SC+2015.15 |
