Image Not Available
Balbek. Temple.
Artist: Félix Bonfils (French, 1831-1885)
Date: about 1870-1880
Dimensions:
Image: 9 5/16 x 11 3/16 in. (23.7 x 28.3 cm);
Mount: 9 1/2 x 11 5/16 in. (24.1 x 28.7 cm)
Medium: Albumen print
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. B. Becker
Object number: 1986.119
Label Text:
Félix Bonfils, like most of the western photographers working in the Near East in the early 19th century, would often pose local residents in his compositions of ancient ruins. This was done primarily to establish a sense of scale. However, Bonfils did something more. His locals are often shown in slightly tongue-in-cheek ways. In this photograph an adolescent is sitting cross-legged in the niche on the left.
The temple complex at Baalbek, a town in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, was built as Heliopolis under the orders of the Roman Emperor Augustus approximately 2,050 years ago. It was dedicated to the worship of Jupiter, Venus, and Bacchus. It is ironic that a local youth occupies a space once dedicated to a Roman deity.
Félix Bonfils, like most of the western photographers working in the Near East in the early 19th century, would often pose local residents in his compositions of ancient ruins. This was done primarily to establish a sense of scale. However, Bonfils did something more. His locals are often shown in slightly tongue-in-cheek ways. In this photograph an adolescent is sitting cross-legged in the niche on the left.
The temple complex at Baalbek, a town in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon, was built as Heliopolis under the orders of the Roman Emperor Augustus approximately 2,050 years ago. It was dedicated to the worship of Jupiter, Venus, and Bacchus. It is ironic that a local youth occupies a space once dedicated to a Roman deity.
Not on view
In Collection(s)