Ashley Arico, associate curator of ancient Egyptian art, Arts of Africa A CELEBRATION OF NAPOLEONIC EGYPT IN PRINTED CLOTH This article is the first in a series where staff members from curatorial departments across the museum were invited to take a closer look at artworks that have reinterpreted, repurposed, or drawn inspiration from the visual legacy of this illustrious North African culture.
In 2022 we mark the anniversaries of two significant Egyptological discoveries that ignited a resurgence of Egyptomania: the decipherment of hieroglyphs in 1822 using the Rosetta Stone that had been found during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt and the discovery of King Tut’s tomb in 1922.
The impact of Egyptomania has appeared in many forms, including art from ancient Rome, Chicago architecture, and even current pop-culture, like Marvel’s Moon Knight.
