Who painted Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie?

Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie was painted by Dominique Vivant Denon in 1798.

Where can I see Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie?

Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie is held by Victoria and Albert Museum.

What movement is Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie?

Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie is associated with Romanticism.

Artwork

Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie

Dominique Vivant Denon , 1798

Vue de la colonne de Pompée à Alexandrie is a watercolor work on paper by the Romanticist artist Dominique Vivant Denon. It dates from 1798 and is held in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The watercolor, executed in 1798, records a scene from Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition.

About this work

Their team uses a kite to fly a line over the column’s capital so a soldier can climb up and raise the French flag.

Denon painted this watercolor in 1798 during Napoleon’s Egypt campaign. It shows a tall red granite column in Alexandria with two figures nearby—likely Napoleon and Denon himself. Their team uses a kite to fly a line over the column’s capital so a soldier can climb up and raise the French flag.

The British later copied this exact trick after beating the French. It wasn’t for measuring height—they had better tools.

Look up the Victoria and Albert Museum next.

Overview

The watercolor, executed in 1798, records a scene from Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition. It portrays the massive red granite column that dominates the Alexandria skyline, with two men in the foreground—identified as Napoleon and the artist Dominique‑Jean‑Larrey Denon—overseeing a kite‑based operation to hoist a French flag atop the monument.

Subject & Meaning

The composition captures a symbolic act of conquest: a kite is employed to carry a line over the column’s capital, allowing a soldier to ascend and plant the French colors. This gesture was later imitated by British forces after they expelled the French, underscoring the column’s role as a visual prize in the contest for dominance over Alexandria.

Technique & Style

Denon worked in transparent watercolor, using delicate washes to render the gleaming granite and the bright sky. The figures are rendered with fine linear detail, while the surrounding architecture and distant landscape are suggested with broader, looser strokes, creating a sense of depth and immediacy typical of late‑18th‑century field sketches.

Context

The column, erected around AD 300 to honor Emperor Diocletian, was mistakenly linked in medieval tradition to a temple of Pompey. During the French campaign, it became a focal point for propaganda, illustrating the scientific and artistic documentation undertaken by the Commission des Sciences et des Arts that accompanied Napoleon’s army.

Legacy

Denon’s watercolor stands as a primary visual record of the French attempt to claim the column, and it informs later British depictions of the same event. The work also exemplifies the broader Enlightenment‑driven effort to catalogue Egypt’s monuments, a project that influenced subsequent archaeological and artistic studies of the region.