Photographed by Scott Wolff. Scanned from a slide. Color corrected by Pat Cagney.

Kalaat-Esch-Schekif (Beaufort), General View

Artist Louis Constantin Henri François Xavier de Clercq (French, 1837 - 1901)

Publisher Louis Constantin Henri François Xavier de Clercq (French, 1837 - 1901)

CultureFrench

Date1859-1860

MediumAlbumen print | Waxed paper | Negative | Lithograph | Mount

DimensionsOverall, Image: 8 1/16 × 10 3/4 in. (20.5 × 27.3 cm)
Overall, Support: 17 3/4 × 23 1/4 in. (45.1 × 59.1 cm)
Overall, Mat: 19 15/16 × 24 1/16 in. (50.6 × 61.1 cm)

InscribedPrinted on the mount: KALAAT-ESCH-SCHEKIF [Beaufort]; Vue Generale; and the photographer's Crest of Arms

Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank

Object number2002.9

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an albumen print from a waxed paper negative on the original lithographed mount. It depicts an ancient structure in Syria, built during the Crusades, with landscape behind it.

Label TextLouis De Clercq French (1836-1901) Kalaat-esch-Schekif (Beaufort), 1859-60 Albumen print Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2002.9 ~ This photograph is among the first ever made of the castles constructed during the Crusades in Syria. By the 19th century the Crusaders and their castles had entered into the realm of legend. Very few travelers had actually witnessed these massive structures and none had seen the accurate representations that only the recently-invented medium of photography could provide. By the 1860s the ancient wonders of Egypt, the Holy Land, Greece, and Rome had been fairly well-documented through photographs. Thus, De Clercq's photographs of the Crusaders' castles are the earliest records of these historical, and indeed mythical structures. Edited By: GLY Edited Date: 03/27/2003ProvenanceLibrarie Schwilden, Brussels, --September 2001; Purchased by Charles Isaacs, September 2001; Chrysler Museum of Art Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, 2002. Published ReferencesLouis De Clercq, _Voyage En Orient: recueil photographique exécuté par Louis de Clercq, 1858-1859_ II (Cologne: Mayer and Mayer, 1989), plate 4.