View under the portico of the temple of Edfu - for an interior with a unique explorer's eye - David Roberts, Egypt and Nubia 1838

Color lithograph: View under the portico of the temple of Edfu, Upper Egypt

Imagine standing beneath the great portico of the Temple of Edfu, admiring the expansive view across the peristyle courtyard to the majestic propylon. This panorama is simply breathtaking. The propylon, with its majestic proportions, seems to close off the sky, creating a dramatic contrast with the Egyptian sun. The courtyard's covered cloisters, adorned with brightly painted hieroglyphs, once provided a shady refuge for priests and sacred visitors.

The propylon itself is a marvel of Egyptian architecture, almost complete but missing its ringed cornice. The bold torus delineating its towers and the richly decorated entrance with its carved cornice exemplify the grandeur of this architectural style. The giant figures carved in intaglio relief represent offerings to the gods, reinforcing the temple's divine ambience. Despite centuries of sand accumulation and the temple's modern use for storage, which obscures the column bases and access to the sanctuary, the refined beauty of the cornices and capitals remains visible. Each column capital, with its overlapping lotus blossoms, showcases the elegance of Egyptian design. The striking contrast between these ancient marvels and the modest modern mud huts perched on the cornices underscores the temple's monumental scale and historical significance, creating a striking contrast that accentuates its enduring grandeur.

Reproduction of an engraving of a drawing by David Roberts (1796-1864) made during his three-month journey from Alexandria to the temple of Abu Simbel in Nubia, a journey of more than fifteen hundred kilometers.

His drawings were already the subject of considerable success during his lifetime, in particular those published between 1846 and 1849 in the form of three volumes, published in London by FG Moon and entitled Egypt and Nubia, made from the drawings and sketches made during this trip to the banks of the Nile during the winter of 1838-1839, and lithographed by Louis Haghe.