A nineteenth-century albumen print of the statue of the Nile God, discovered in 1513 in Campo Marzio and displayed thereafter in the Vatican Museums.

The Nile is portrayed as a venerable old man reclining sinuously on his side with a cornucopia of fruit in his left arm and ears of wheat in his right hand. Egypt is represented by the presence of a sphinx, on which the figure of the Nile supports himself, and by some exotic animals. The scene is enlivened by sixteen children who allude to the sixteen cubits of water by which the Nile rises for its annual flood. The base of the statue is decorated with a Nile landscape, incorporating familiar images of pygmies, hippopotamuses and crocodiles seen throughout Romano-Egyptian art. The sculpture was probably inspired by a monumental statue of the Nile in black basalt, a masterpiece of Hellenistic Greek sculpture, described by Pliny the Elder as being within the Forum of Peace.

Albumen print. Very good tonal range and in good condition, pasted on original mount. Dimensions: 135 x 230mm. (5.25 x 9 inches).