100. Un Iwân, à Damas
Medium
Lithograph
Dimensions
Sheet: 22 3/8 × 15 5/8 in. (56.9 × 39.7 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Joyce F. Menschel Photography Library Fund, 2017
Accession Number
2017.66.22
Art Historical Context
This lithograph, titledUn Iwân, à Damas* (An Iwan, in Damascus), was created in 1843 by French artist Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey. Produced just a few years after the invention of photography, it captures an architectural view of an iwan—a vaulted, open-ended hall typical of Islamic design—in the historic city of Damascus. The large sheet size allowed for detailed reproduction, making the image suitable for study or display. As a lithograph classified within the Metropolitan Museum’s photographs collection, the work highlights the medium’s role in the 19th century as a bridge between ...
About the Artist
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey · 1804–1892
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey (1804–1892), born in Langres, France, as the sole surviving child of Claude Joseph Girault and Barbe Philiberte Rosine Piétrequin, inherited the lordships of Genevrières and Prangey, adopting his full surname in 1825. After studies at Langres college and in Paris, where he earned baccalauréats in letters (1826) and law (1828), he pursued artistic training under ...