The Colossi of Memnon

Details

Robert George Talbot Kelly (1861-1934)
The Colossi of Memnon
signed and indistinctly dated 'R.Talbot.Kelly. 190...'
watercolour
14½ x 21½in. (36.8 x 54.6cm.)

Special notice

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Lot Essay

These 60ft high statues mark the site of the temple of Amenophis III. In antiquity the statue on the right was heard to make a moaning sound at dawn and dusk, said to be Memnon bidding farewell to his mother, Eos, the dawn goddess. This was probably caused by the effect on the stone of radical temperature changes at these times of day; repairs carried out by the Roman emperor Septimius Severus (AD.193-211) meant that the sound was never heard again.

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