Vue d’un colosse placé á l’entrée

This engraving is drawn from volume 5 of the Description, which contains numerous depictions of the temple districts of Karnak and Thebes. Here, too, the ancient ruins are dotted with various figures, who serve partly to give a sense of scale and partly to illustrate the expedition’s stated purpose: to survey, to measure and to record.

Thèbes, Karnak: Vue d'un colosse placé à l'entrée de la salle hypostyle du palais, unknown artist, in: M. (Edme-François) Jomard (1777–1862) (ed.): Description de l'Égypte: ou, Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française, Paris 1809–1828; source: The New York Public Library, New York Public Library Digital Collections, public domain.