Napoleon on the Nile.

• Position: Art exhibition, Dahesh Museum of Art, New York

"NAPOLEON ON THE NILE: Soldiers, Artists, and the Rediscovery of Egypt" brings together more than 80 large, exquisitely detailed engraved plate illustrations from the massive, encyclopedic compendium known as Description de l'Egypte, long considered the foundational work of modern Egyptology, along with vivid 19th-century Orientalist paintings that were influenced by them, and a selection of campaign letters and documents that explore the artistic legacy of Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte's 1798-1801 occupation of Egypt.

The exhibition illuminates how French military ambitions and the quest for scientific knowledge--as well as political control--came to shape the West's enduring image of Egypt, inspiring generations of painters, photographers, architects, and decorative artists. "While his military exploits ended poorly, Napoleon achieved what perhaps was to be his greatest legacy: the publication of the multi-volume Description de l'Egypte, widely acknowledged as the single most important European scholarly study of ancient and modern Egypt.

Initiated under the patronage of Napoleon and completed in 1829 (a decade after the General's death), during the reign of King Charles X, the Description was among the most significant, and certainly the most tangible, consequences of the French military's occupation of Egypt. Not only did it form the foundation for the modern discipline of Egyptology, but its large and magnificent plate illustrations influenced the course of "Egyptomania" and "Orientalism" in Western fine and decorative arts for two centuries.

The astonishing range and precision of the Description plates were captured by Napoleon's savants--a small army of scholars whose project was to explore, describe, and document every aspect of the country systematically--its ancient and modern buildings and monuments; plants, animals, and people; topography; commerce; customs; and infrastructure. Supported by Napoleon and protected by the army, this select group of engineers, scientists, mathematicians, naturalists, and artists served the political mission of the expedition by providing the comprehensive information and skills an occupying force needed to govern and rebuild effectively. At the same time, they advanced the expedition's ideological goals by rediscovering the wonders of Pharaonic Egyptian civilization, with which Napoleon, in his dual roles of liberator and conqueror, was happy to be associated.

The exhibition is arranged in five sections: "Napoleon and the Egyptian Campaign," "The Savants and the Institut de L'Egypte," "Ancient Egypt," "Natural History," and "Modern Egypt." Richly detailed documentation is provided in extensive wall labels, including a timeline tracing the major events of the Egyptian campaign.

Napoleon and the Egyptian Campaign. In 1798, 29-year-old Gen. Napoleon Bonaparte, fresh from recent victories in Italy, set out to invade and annex Egypt. His aim was for France to strike a fatal blow to England's economy by seizing control of the land route to India, thus thwarting any future British expansion into the strategically important Nile Valley. Framing his purpose according to Enlightenment and Revolution ideologies, Napoleon felt France was destined to rescue Egypt from what was considered the tyranny of the barbaric Mameluke rulers, improve the material and social conditions of its inhabitants, and reveal the splendor of Egypt's ancient civilization.

In July 1798, Napoleon landed in Alexandria with 55,000 men and 400 ships. After securing the city, he moved on to Cairo, where his forces faced an army of 6,000 mounted Mameluke warriors and 10,000 foot soldiers. The French army took control of Cairo after the fierce Battle of the Pyramids. One month later, the entire French fleet was destroyed by English Admiral Horatio Nelson in the Bay of Aboukir. A year later, in August of 1799, after suffering the effects of the plague in Jaffa and a brutal siege...