Mastroianni, Domenico (1876-1962), ‘Bataille des Pyramides’ (Battle of the Pyramids) 1798, postcard after a clay relief
It is 21 July 1789. After having landed in Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte headed south with his army.
During a glooming sunrise, they met the silhouettes of the pyramids. It was nice and beautiful, but less nice was the, by the way indeed beautiful, cavalery of the Mamluks. The Egyptian soil was officially Ottoman since 1517, although the Mamluks were the real rulers during this time. With this army the first serious battle was fought, it was one of the most bloody fights of the eighteenth-century, ‘The Battle of the Pyramids’. The Victory was for the French.
This remarkable postcard is called a ‘sculptochromie’, ‘photo-sculpture’ or ‘sculptogravure’: Italian artist Domenico Mastroianni . He modelled diverse narratives in clay reliefs, which were photographed and then reproduced as printed postcards to be sold in box sets. After the process, the original was destroyed: now the clay could be re-used for the next tableau. And the next. And the next. And the next….