I’m switching back to architecture for the final post from inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And what glorious architecture it is. The Temple of Dendur is one of The Met’s most iconic and beloved works. The gallery was specifically designed for Dendur and opened in 1978. The temple was a gift from Egypt to the United States for participating in the rescue of antiquities that would have been submerged by the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

More than 20 cities competed for the honor of displaying the temple, and President Johnson ultimately awarded it to The Met.

Dendur is not just a facade. It’s the complete surviving temple, measuring 43 feet long, 21 feet wide, and 16–21 feet tall. Built around 15–10 BC during the reign of Roman emperor Augustus, the architecture is thoroughly Egyptian. Reliefs even portray Augustus as an Egyptian pharaoh. The base is adorned with papyrus and lotus plants, and even the historic graffiti was left untouched.

Like my previous two posts, the first picture was shot with the Leica Monochrom, clearly featuring the temple center stage. The enormous glass wall brings in natural light, while the reflecting pool in front of the temple represents the Nile. The result feels less like a museum display and more like an architectural environment. The second photo offers a very different perspective.

I didn’t use the full 24mm equivalent with my Leica D-Lux 8, opting to zoom in slightly to about 34mm. I was balancing the historic architecture with its modern enclosure. The architect did a masterful job. I love the contrast of the modern environment surrounding the old. The design is simple enough that it doesn’t overpower the historic installation.

In a way, the architect is doing something similar here, though in reverse, to the simple glass pyramid constructed in the middle of the ornate Louvre courtyard in Paris. Here, the modern surrounds the old. At the Louvre, the old surrounds the modern. In both cases, the contrast between new and old, glass and stone, is strong enough that they don’t compete with each other.

This second picture shows the entire environment around the installation, similar to yesterday’s post. I think it was fun to contrast these two approaches to photography: monochrome vs. color, and concentrated details vs. the wide-angle environment. Each post in this three-part series has taken this approach.

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