Sketch for "The Revolt at Cairo"c. 1809 · Study 1965.310

Context from the museum

Throughout the 1800s and into the 1900s, prints, paintings, and photographs, like Louis Haghe’s Egypt and Nubia series, brought back by artists who voyaged to Egypt, inspired American and European artists, architects, and designers to emulate ancient Egyptian motifs and styles. Egyptomania blossomed through the 1800s and can be seen in architecture around cities like Washington, DC, and in the interiors of aristocratic homes, as well as in funerary monuments, such as in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. Looking back at these creations provides an interesting historical groundwork for debating who has the right to interpret Egyptian motifs and styles.

Museum description reproduced from its CC0 open-access record. Read the original catalog entry.

Read the dimensions before the image

The selected unframed measurement for Sketch for "The Revolt at Cairo" is 23.3 cm wide and 15.2 cm high, equivalent to approximately 9.2 × 6.0 inches. Dividing width by height gives a format ratio of 1.53:1. The rectangular bounding area is 0.04 square meters; it describes the measured footprint, not the amount of paint or the monetary value.

On an illustrative 300 cm wall, the recorded width occupies 7.8% of the span before adding a frame. A centered placement leaves approximately 138.3 cm on each side before adding a frame. These are calculations by Physical Art For Crypto using museum measurements. They are not the museum’s display recommendations.

Questions to bring to your own collection

With Sketch for "The Revolt at Cairo" in view, identify one feature you can point to, then distinguish what the museum records from your personal response. Keep its medium, oil on paper, mounted on paper and canvas, in your notes when comparing contemporary works.

• Which part of this horizontal composition catches your eye first?
• Would a 23.3 cm width still suit the space after allowing for furniture and a frame?
• What surface detail would you need to see in person or in a close photograph?