Djébel Selséleh (Silsilis), Steles Architecturales Taillées Dans les Carriéres

Art Historical Context

Step into the sun-baked quarries of ancient Egypt with Félix Teynard's *Djébel Selséleh (Silsilis), Steles Architecturales Ta Dans les Carrié*, a captivating salted paper print from 1851–52, printed 185354. Captured at the Nile River site of Silsilis—known in antiquity as a sacred quarry—this image reveals monumental architectural steles hewn directly from the rock face. Teynard, a pioneering French photographer, documented these enduring ruins during his expedition along the Nile, blending archaeology with the dawn of photography to preserve Egypt's grandeur for modern eyes. This work exemplifies mid-19th-century calotype photography, using a paper negative to produce the textured, luminous salted paper print—a technique that allowed for subtle tonal gradations ideal for rendering stone textures and dramatic shadows. At 23.5 x 30.3 cm, its intimate scale invites close inspection of the intricate carvings, evoking the pharaohs' monumental ambitions. Teynard's precise compositions fueled Egyptomania in Europe, bridging scholarly study and artistic wonder. Today, housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art (purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1976), this photograph stands as a testament to early photo-documentation's power, transforming distant ruins into timeless touchstones of human ingenuity.

About the Artist

Félix Teynard|Imprimerie Photographique de H. de Fonteny et Cie · 1817–1892

**Félix Teynard (1817–1892)** was a pioneering French photographer whose work captured the ancient wonders of Egypt and Nubia with unprecedented precision and artistry. Born on January 14, 1817, in Saint-Flour, he trained as a civil engineer in Grenoble, a hub of Egyptology that likely sparked his fascination with ancient architecture. Little is documented about his early life or formal photograph...