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Lot Essay
This is probably the Darb al-Ahmar (Red Road), which is a major route through the southern part of Cairo leading to the Citadel. It is one of the main arteries through medieval (Islamic) Cairo. The building to which the title refers, the Khayrbay Mosque complex is nearby and the minaret on the left is that of the Aqsunqur Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, which is the next building along the same road. The minaret is in shadow, but it's silhouetted outline reveals that it was a four-storey structure, one of only two documented in Cairo. The fourth storey, of eight slender columns supporting a bulb, has since been destroyed. This was also one of very few minarets to have a circular section from its base to the top, rather than the more usual square, octagonal, cylindrical progression.
In contrast with the bold dark minaret, the façades of the buildings opposite are washed with bright light, picking out the details on the smaller minaret and the transparent screens and windows. Projecting windows on upper floors allowed women to look out and down without being seen themselves by passers-by. Passers-by are absent, the street unusually quiet. Perhaps Girault de Prangey chose a time when the local population were at prayer, in the hope that he would be undisturbed as he photographed. Such streets are difficult to photograph satisfactorily with modern equipment and materials, the contrast range often defeating all but the most meticulous and specialist photographers. In this daguerreotype the artist has worked with the light to lead the viewer along the street and through the dark archway, observing the important or curious architectural details along the way.
Girault de Prangey used this format, his half-plate for many studies of details of Cairene architecture, but generally used the smaller sixth-plate format for street views.
In contrast with the bold dark minaret, the façades of the buildings opposite are washed with bright light, picking out the details on the smaller minaret and the transparent screens and windows. Projecting windows on upper floors allowed women to look out and down without being seen themselves by passers-by. Passers-by are absent, the street unusually quiet. Perhaps Girault de Prangey chose a time when the local population were at prayer, in the hope that he would be undisturbed as he photographed. Such streets are difficult to photograph satisfactorily with modern equipment and materials, the contrast range often defeating all but the most meticulous and specialist photographers. In this daguerreotype the artist has worked with the light to lead the viewer along the street and through the dark archway, observing the important or curious architectural details along the way.
Girault de Prangey used this format, his half-plate for many studies of details of Cairene architecture, but generally used the smaller sixth-plate format for street views.