Belzoni, Giovanni Battista Plate 6. "From the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni"

Giovanni Battista Belzoni. Plate 6. "From the Tombs of the Kings at Thebes, Discovered by G. Belzoni." From Illustrative of the Researches and Operations of G. Belzoni in Egypt and Nubia.      

London: John Murray, 1822. Folio. 9 3/4 x 19 3/4 (image). Aquatint. Full original hand color. Very good condition. 

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Belzoni, traveled to Cairo in 1816 in order to interest Mohammed Ali in a hydraulic lifting device that he had invented. This venture being unsuccessful, Belzoni was hired by the British Consul, Henry Saltto assist with getting the head and shoulders of a colossal statue from Thebes to England. Belzoni then turned to archeological explorations in the Thebes area. Belzoni was the first to perform large scale excavations in the Valley of the Kings, and he discovered many tombs, including some major ones. He mounted his excavations on a massive scale, and he was highly systematic in his approach. After leaving Egypt in 1819, Belzoni published his famous Narrative, a work that excited huge interest. In 1822, the atlas of prints to accompany this work was issued, containing many lovely scenes and brilliant renderings of the tomb paintings that Belzoni discovered. The hieroglyphs of the tombs are precisely rendered and the color vividly captured.