Isis et Horus-Arsiési - Bas-relief du Temple de Kalabcheh (Talmis)

Art Historical Context

This salted paper print, titled *Isis et Horus-Arsiési - Bas-relief du Temple de Kalabh (Talmis)*, captures a finely carved ancient Egyptian bas-relief from Temple of Kalabsha (ancient Talmis) in Nub. Photographed by Maxime Du Camp April 8, 1850, it depicts the goddess Isis nursing her son Horus-Arsiési, a poignant symbol of maternal protection and divine kingship central to Egyptian mythology. The temple, dedicated primarily to the god Mandulis, blends Greco-Roman and traditional Egyptian styles, reflecting Nubia's role as a cultural crossroads. Du Camp, a pioneering French photographer and travel writer, created this image during his 1849–1851 expedition to Egypt alongside Gustave Flaubert. Using the calotype process—William Henry Fox Talbot's paper negative technique—he produced some of the earliest photographs of Egyptian antiquities, preserving details like the relief's intricate hieroglyphs and flowing drapery that might otherwise fade from view. As part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this 8½ × 6½-inch print highlights photography's revolutionary role in 19th-century archaeology. It brought distant wonders to European audiences, fueling Egyptomania and scholarly study, while honoring the enduring spiritual power of Isis and Horus in ancient worship.

About the Artist

Maxime Du Camp · 1822–present

Maxime Du Camp (1822–1894) was a pioneering French photographer and writer whose adventurous spirit and technical innovation bridged literature and visual art during the mid-19th century. Born in Paris on February 8, 1822, to a prosperous family—his father a successful surgeon—Du Camp received a solid bourgeois education at the Collège Bourbon (now Lycée Condorcet), where he cultivated interests i...