Fallen Statue at the Ramesseum, Thebes
1857
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1857
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You’re looking at a giant broken stone head lying in the sand, with tiny people standing beside it. The face is cracked, but you can still see the calm, carved features of an ancient Egyptian king. Frith took this photo in 1857 using a huge glass plate that could record every crack and grain of sand. He wanted Victorian England to see how big and old these ruins really were, so he added his crew for scale. If you like how photography can make history feel real, look up the technique called impasto.
