Vivant Denon and the Discovery of Ancient Egypt

1. Vivant Denon and the Discovery of Ancient Egypt

2. Vivant Denon was the only artist to accompany the French troops in 1799, when they marched into upper Egypt in pursuit of the Mamaluke leader, Muray Bey. Thus Denon became the first to discover and draw the antiquities of ancient Egypt. Portrait of Denon by Andre Dutertre, in Louis Reybaud, Histoire (1830-36).

3. One of the first sites he visited was Dendera, called Tentrys by the ancients. He made this sketch from a distance, little suspecting what was in store. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 38.

4. On this detail from the map that Denon published in his Voyage, Dendera (here labeled Tentyris) is at the very top, where the Nile begins flowing west. It is just across the river from the city Qena. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 140 (detail).

5. Denon remarked that when he came through the gate at Dendera and saw the portico, “I felt that I was in the sanctuary of the arts and sciences… Never did the labor of man show me the human race in such a splendid point of view…The Egyptians appeared to me giants.” Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 38.

6. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 38 (detail). On their first visit to Dendera, Denon and the troops did not stay very long, as they were on the move. But they did discover an interesting artifact in a small chapel on the roof.

7. Inside a chapel on the roof of the Dendera temple, just behind the main hall on the right, Denon discovered a circular zodiac carved in stone. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 38 (detail)

8. Denon would not have time to draw the Zodiac of Dendera on this first visit, but when he returned later that summer, he made a line drawing, under difficult conditions, since the zodiac was on the ceiling, and the chapel was without windows. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 130.

9. In this detail of the Zodiac of Dendera, the constellation Taurus can be easily identified, as well as other constellations. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl 130 (detail).

10. In this inset from Denon’s drawing, the location of the zodiac in the chapel ceiling has been indicated. Note that he calls is a “petit appartement.” Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 130 (detail).

11. From Dendera, Denon moved south to Edfu, which is on the Nile, and just below the center of this map. It is marked on the map as Apollinopolis magna. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 140 (detail).

12. The Temple of Apollinopolis Magna at Edfu was called by Denon “the most beautiful of all Egypt.” Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 58.

13. Denon was disturbed that squatters had been living in the temple for centuries; he found the mud hovels they had built on the roof and in the courtyard to be an eyesore. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 58 (detail)

14. Denon marveled at how the sands of time had nearly filled the temple of Apollinopolis. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 57.

15. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 57. Denon also applauded the Egyptian capitals on their columns, which were based on papyrus, lotus, and palm plants, and “borrowed nothing from other peoples.”

16. Just south of Edfu, Denon paused to sketch the ruins of Hieraconpolis at sunset. In his drawing, he included himself—it is the only self-portrait (even if from the back) in all of his sketches. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 54 bis.

17. Finally, the troops, and Denon, reached the first cataracts of the Nile, which marked the boundary between Egypt and Nubia (modern Libya). Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 64.

18. Just south of the cataracts lay the island of Philae, the traditional entry point into Egypt. Denon badly wanted to visit the temples, but the natives forbade them to cross. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 71.

19. So Denon spent days circling the island, drawing it from all sides. Here we see it from the south. The Kiosk of Trajan is to the right. Denon later said that of all the monuments, the Kiosk was the one he wanted to take home to Paris. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 71.

20. This ground plan of Philae, drawn by Denon and published in his Voyage, shows the two pylons as two divided black bars; the Temple of Isis is just above the north (second) pylon. The Kiosk of Trajan is the square monument to the east. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 70.

21. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 72. Finally, the French troops evicted the local inhabitants of Philae by force, and they were able to cross. Denon wrote: “The next day was the finest to me of my whole travels. I possessed seven or eight monuments in the space of six hundred yards, and could examine them quite at my ease.”

22. Denon and the French army left the cataracts and turned back north in pursuit of Murad Bey. They soon reached Thebes, which Denon had been through on the way south, but had been unable to draw. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 48.

23. Denon soon had a good view of Luxor, with the two obelisks at the far left, facing Karnak (which Denon never drew) Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 50.

24. Denon also sketched Luxor from the east side, with the Nile in the background. This time, the obelisks and pylon are on the extreme right. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 49.

25. The entry pylon at Luxor is flanked by two large granite obelisks, as well as two colossal statues of Ramesses II (here half-buried). The right obelisk was later taken to Paris and installed in the Place de la Concorde. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 50.

26. Denon made a ground plan of Luxor, even though he was not a topographic engineer like many of his colleagues. The pylon, and the obelisks, are at the left.

27. Many of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings contained mummified ibis. Denon sketched both the mummies and the skeletal remains. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 99.

28. Denon, like all the French, was fascinated by hieroglyphics. Here he records some of the inscriptions he saw at Luxor, Philae, and Dendera. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 118.

29. Across the Nile from Thebes and Luxor is a large flood plain. One of the most impressive features there are what the French called the Colossi of Memnon. They are all that remains of a huge temple complex built by Amenhotep III. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 44.

30. Denon also drew close-up views of each colossus. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 44.

31. From Thebes, Denon headed back north for Cairo. Although he did not consider himself a naturalist, he did make drawings when he could of animals that he encountered. Here is his ichneumon, or Egyptian mongoose. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 108 (detail).

32. Denon also drew the famous Egyptian asp. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 104 (detail).

33. Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 86. On his way back to Cairo, Denon encountered the monks from the Monastery of the Chains at Antinoe. They spend their days swimming in the Nile, begging alms from passing boats. They get their drinking water from a chain bucket lowered from the cliffs.

34. When Denon reached Cairo in the summer of 1799, he took his portfolio of drawings to the Institute of Egypt to show to his colleagues. Napoleon was so impressed that he sent two special commissions back to upper Egypt to survey the ancient monuments and temples. Meanwhile, Napoleon fled Egypt, and he took Denon with him. The Institute garden in Cairo, from Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 25.

35. When Denon got back to Paris, he immediately began preparing his portfolio, and his diary for publication. It appeared in 1802, whetting the appetite of the public, and setting the stage for the Description de l’Egypte. Measuring the Sphinx at Giza, from Vivant Denon, Voyage (1802), pl. 20 bis.

36. The End A new program will start in a moment.