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Kom Ombo
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Frith often emulated the drawings of David Roberts in selecting monuments to illustrate and positions from which to shoot. Both artists encountered the temple at Kom Ombo still more than halfway buried in sand. “It reminds you of some grand old giant, buried to the shoulders,” wrote Frith, “not dead yet, but overpowered and imprisoned by some potent spell—majestic in his helplessness.” In his photographs, however, Frith cared less about emotional impact and more about the accuracy of his depictions. “A truthful record is of more value than the most elaborately beautiful picture,” he proclaimed.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineEgypt, Sinai and Jerusalem: A Series of Twenty Photographic Views, with Descriptions by Mrs. Poole and Reginald Stuart Poole: Kom Ombo, c. 1858. Francis Frith (British, 1822–1898), William Mackenzie. Albumen print from wet collodion negative; image: 39.5 x 49 cm (15 9/16 x 19 5/16 in.); matted: 61 x 76.2 cm (24 x 30 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund, 1986.193
