From 1798-1801, the diplomat and antiquarian Vivant Denon accompanied the French Army, led by Napoleon Bonaparte and Louis Desaix in their campaign to Egypt. A friend and close supporter of Napoleon, he followed the army, making detailed sketches of the expedition.
These sketches covered three major themes; the antiquities of Egypt, the customs of the local people and panoramic illustrations of the many battles fought during the journey. From these three areas, antiquarian images make up the majority. Besides looking at the general layout of the archaeological sites such as at Giza and Luxor, Denon also made detailed drawings of hieroglyphs, wall paintings and various artefacts discovered throughout the journey. The meticulous nature with which Denon recorded finds was instrumental in the development of the subject of Egyptology in the early nineteenth century.