Early Christian (Coptic) Monastery at Esna

Edwin Howland Blashfield

Brooklyn Museum photograph

Object Label

Made during a trip down the Nile, these two precise drawings by Edwin Howland Blashfield depict architectural landmarks of Egypt. In his image of the twelfth-century Coptic monastery Deir el-Shuhada, the artist juxtaposed linear hatch marks with dark shading to capture the play of light amid the transept arches. He also included a careful study of a mural painting of Saint Stephen, as well as color and light notations. (This drawing helped archaeologists in the 1960s discover the mural, which had been covered with whitewash in the intervening years.)

In Temple of Khonsu at Karnak, Blashfield recorded the famous ancient “forest” of colossal columns, focusing primarily on their regularized geometric arrangement rather than their decorative hieroglyphics.

Caption

Edwin Howland Blashfield American, 1848–1936. Early Christian (Coptic) Monastery at Esna, March 1, 1887. Graphite on cream, medium-weight, smooth wove paper, Sheet: 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 in. (21 x 27.3 cm) Mat (drawing mounted to): 12 x 18 9/16 in. (30.5 x 47.1 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of John H. Field, 48.217.1. No known copyright restrictions (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 48.217.1_IMLS_PS3.jpg)

Gallery

Not on view

Collection

American Art

Title

Early Christian (Coptic) Monastery at Esna

Date

March 1, 1887

Medium

Graphite on cream, medium-weight, smooth wove paper

Classification

Drawing

Dimensions

Sheet: 8 1/4 x 10 3/4 in. (21 x 27.3 cm) Mat (drawing mounted to): 12 x 18 9/16 in. (30.5 x 47.1 cm)

Signatures

Signed in graphite, lower right: "BY. / E. H. BLASHFIELD '87"

Inscriptions

Inscription in graphite: in lower right, "Chapels in a Coptic Dayr / out of Esneh -- dating from early / Christian Centuries / Mch 1 1887"; various artist's notations: at top center, "light"; on capital of pilaster at left edge, "[out?]"; on low wall between columns, "warm yellow"; and on two spots on the floor, "sun"

Credit Line

Gift of John H. Field

Accession Number

48.217.1

Rights

No known copyright restrictions

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