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Abidôs. Temple de Séti I

Pascal Sebah

Artwork Details

Abidôs. Temple de Séti I
circa 1880
Pascal Sebah
albumen print on paper
17 in x 14 1/8 in (43.18 cm x 35.88 cm)
Transfer from the Kelsey Museum of Archaeology
1980/1.200

Description

Subject Matter:

This photograph provides an interior view of the mortuary temple of Seti I—a nineteenth-dynasty pharaoh from Egypt’s New Kingdom—now in a state of ruin. Two massive, stone colonnades establish the vertical edges of the composition, receding back and converging toward the lower-center of the photograph. The plunging orthogonals created by the image’s single-point perspective produces a sense of deep space, which is nevertheless interrupted by the flat stone surface of a wall opposite the viewer. Stark contrasts between dark and light tones enhance the picture’s visual drama, though they also obscure somewhat the architectural and sculptural details of the building.    

Physical Description:

This photograph shows a narrow corridor flanked on either side by two rows of massive, stone columns. 

Usage Rights:

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