Joseph Bonomi the Younger
Joseph Bonomi , called the Younger to distinguish himself from his father of the same name (born October 9, 1796 in London , † March 3, 1878 in Wimbledon ), was an English draftsman, Egyptologist and museum curator .
Life
Bonomi was born into a family of architects. His father Joseph Bonomi the Elder had worked with Robert Adam , and his older brother Ignatius Bonomi was also an architect.
Bonomi studied at the Royal Academy in London. In 1823 Bonomi traveled to Rome . He wanted to study with the sculptor Antonio Canova , but the latter died shortly before Bonomi's arrival. After a few months of studying in Rome, he got into debt and finally took a modestly paid job as a companion to the Scottish traveler Robert Hay , with whom he traveled to Egypt via Malta in 1824 . It was on this occasion that his lifelong interest in Egyptology was awakened. From 1824 to 1832 he lived in el-Qurna .
From 1824 to 1826 he made numerous sketches of antiquities as a member of Hays Expedition. In 1825 they stayed in Abu Simbel and moved from there to Kalabsha , where Bonomi made several plaster casts of reliefs , to Philae and finally to Thebes .
Bonomi's relationship with Hay was strained, however. Bonomi was dissatisfied with his wages, which he regarded as too low; at the same time, his superior resented the fact that he made drawings and casts for himself and thus tried to improve his reputation on his own. In July 1826, Bonomi resigned as Hays assistant and was replaced by Edward William Lane .
In Cairo Bonomi illustrated 1827/28 the Excerpta hieroglyphica by James Burton . After his financial situation had improved, he met Hay again in Assiut and was persuaded to join his team again if the pay was much higher.
After Hay left Egypt in 1834, Bonomi toured Syria and Palestine with Francis Arundale and Frederick Catherwood . In 1839 he illustrated an Egyptological textbook by John Gardner Wilkinson .
In 1842 Bonomi took part in the “ Royal Prussian Expedition ” led by Karl Richard Lepsius , together with the draftsmen Ernst and Max Weidenbach . They set new standards in the documentation of Pharaonic antiquities.
On his return to England in 1844 he married Jessie, daughter of the painter John Martin . In London he cataloged and illustrated numerous Egyptian collections. In addition, together with Owen Jones , he put together Egyptian exhibits for the London industrial exhibition in 1851 and arranged an Egyptian exhibition in the British Museum .
In 1861 he applied for the position of curator at Sir John Soane's Museum . Since this position was usually only awarded to a practicing architect, it was only obtained after long efforts and much criticism.
In March 1878 he died in Wimbledon and was buried in the local Brompton Cemetery .
Fonts
- with Owen Jones : Description of the Egyptian Court Erected in the Crystal Palace . Bradbury and Evans, The Crystal Palace Collection, 1854.
- Nineveh and Its Palaces , 1894 (Reprinted by Gorgias Press LLC, 2003, ISBN 1-59333-067-7 )
literature
- Dictionary of National Biography Vol. 5, 1886, p. 364 ( full text ).
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Vol. 6, Oxford 2004, pp. 569-571.
- Morris L. Bierbrier: Who was who in Egyptology . 4th revised edition. Egypt Exploration Society, London 2012, ISBN 978-0-85698-207-1 , p. 68.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bonomi, Joseph the Younger |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bonomi, Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English draftsman, Egyptologist and museum curator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 9, 1796 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 3, 1878 |
| Place of death | Wimbledon |