Rectangular Stela of Neferseku

In this engraving from a book in the Museum's Wilbour Library of Egyptology, Louis François Cassas combines different elements of Egyptian architecture from various periods to create a dramatic avenue of sphinxes leading toward a temple and a pyramid. Cassas was a French artist and diplomat who traveled through Lower Egypt, Palestine, and Syria. His skillful examination of Egyptian monuments and landscapes allowed him accurately to depict details of his subjects while placing them in imaginative settings. His books, produced in small editions for an aristocratic audience, are known today for their exquisite engravings. This Romanticized image by Cassas led the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) to write, "This drawing is the most enormous architectural concept I have seen in my life, and I do not believe that anyone can surpass it" (Italian Journey, 1786–1788).