Pompey’s Column, Alexandria (68. Alexandrie 1842. Colonne de Pompée.)
Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey
1842 · Daguerreotype · Photographs
One of the tallest monolithic columns ever erected, this eighty-five-foot-high granite pillar—anecdotally named for Pompey the Great but dedicated to the ancient Roman emperor Diocletian—is all that remains of the most magnificent temple in the Greek quarter of Alexandria. Visible in Girault’s image is graffiti (since removed) described by other nineteenth-century visitors, including the novelist Gustave Flaubert, who called it the embodiment of stupidity.
- Artist
- Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey
- Date
- 1842
- Medium
- Daguerreotype
- Department
- Photographs
- Credit line
- Purchase, Philippe de Montebello Fund, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Moran Gift, in memory of Louise Chisholm Moran, Joyce F. Menschel and Annette de la Renta Gifts, and funds from various donors, 2016 (2016.98)
