Artwork
Colosses de memnon a gourna (thébes)
Colosses de memnon a gourna (thébes) is a watercolor work on paper by Unknown. It dates from 1850 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
About this work
Overview
A mid-19th-century watercolour depicts the Colossi of Memnon, two colossal statues of Amenhotep III, at the entrance to his mortuary temple in Thebes.
Subject & Meaning
The painting shows two large, damaged stone statues in a landscape with a distant town and water. One statue is seated, the other upright, both lacking heads. The seated figure holds an object or figure on its lap.
Technique & Style
Soft watercolour washes convey the rough texture and worn edges of the ancient stone statues, capturing their weathered state.
History & Provenance
The attribution of this watercolour has been reevaluated based on evidence from the Searight Archive, revising earlier attributions to artists such as A. Dauzats and Baron Taylor.
Artist & collection
The Vocal Statue - Thebes, 1848
In the Plain of Thebes - Egypt
Pyramids and Sphinx
`Propyla of Great Temple. Luxor, Thebaid'
Osiride columns broken statue of Rameses II Memnonium Thebes
Egypt and Nubia, Volume I: Thebes
Egypt and Nubia, Volume II: Front Elevation of the Great Temple of Aboo Simbel, Nubia
Great Temple. Karnac. Thebes