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Pompey’s Column, Alexandria (68. Alexandrie 1842. Colonne de Pompée.)

1842
Not on view
One of the tallest monolithic columns ever erected, this eighty-five-foot-high granite pillar—anecdotally named for Pompey the Great but dedicated to the ancient Roman emperor Diocletian—is all that remains of the most magnificent temple in the Greek quarter of Alexandria. Visible in Girault’s image is graffiti (since removed) described by other nineteenth-century visitors, including the novelist Gustave Flaubert, who called it the embodiment of stupidity.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Pompey’s Column, Alexandria (68. Alexandrie 1842. Colonne de Pompée.)
  • Artist: Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (French, 1804–1892)
  • Date: 1842
  • Medium: Daguerreotype
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 1/2 × 3 11/16 in. (24.1 × 9.4 cm)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Philippe de Montebello Fund, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Moran Gift, in memory of Louise Chisholm Moran, Joyce F. Menschel and Annette de la Renta Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2016 (2016.98)
  • Object Number: 2016.98
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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Mosquée de Cordoue and La Giralda et l'Alcazar de Séville, Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey French, Color lithographs
Mosquée de Cordoue and La Giralda et l'Alcazar de Séville
Multiple artists/makers
[1837]
Mosque of Sultan al-Hakim, Cairo (117. Kaire. 1843 Gâma Soultan Ansoun détails [sic]), Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey French, Daguerreotype
Mosque of Sultan al-Hakim, Cairo (117. Kaire. 1843 Gâma Soultan Ansoun détails [sic])
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey
1842–1843
Capital, near the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem (184. Jerusalem, près de la porte de Jaffa. chap.), Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey French, Daguerreotype
Capital, near the Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem (184. Jerusalem, près de la porte de Jaffa. chap.)
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey
1844
Damascus Gate, Jerusalem (208. Atlit. Syrie Chapelle. [sic]), Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey French, Daguerreotype
Damascus Gate, Jerusalem (208. Atlit. Syrie Chapelle. [sic])
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey
1844
Rose Window, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris (277. Troyes. 1841. Cathedrale. Gde. Rose. Fichot-Paris [sic]), Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey French, Daguerreotype
Rose Window, Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris (277. Troyes. 1841. Cathedrale. Gde. Rose. Fichot-Paris [sic])
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey
1841

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