THE GREAT BELZONI

A circus strongman whose plunder of ancient Egypt helped to fill the galleries of British museums is to be reunited with one of his treasures.

A portrait of the Great Belzoni, whose strength enabled several colossal pharaonic monuments to be dragged to the banks of the River Nile and onward to Britain during the 19th century has been given to the state.

It is one of more than 40 objects, worth a combined £27 million, being handed to museums as part of a government scheme to encourage cultural donations with the offsetting of taxes.

The portrait of the celebrated performer, who was also an explorer and archaeologist, was painted by the Dutch artist Jan Adam Kruseman and will take pride of place at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. It will be displayed with the seven-tonne granite sarcophagus lid of Ramesses III, which the 6ft 7in Giovanni Belzoni prised from the tomb in 1819 and handed to the museum four years later.

It was one of several treasures that Belzoni — who performed circus strongman tricks at Sadler’s Wells before embarking on a career as a true-life Indiana Jones — brought to Britain during the “age of plunder”. Working for Henry Salt, the British consul-general in Egypt, Belzoni secured several objects later sold to the British Museum. These included the colossal 2.7m tall granite head of Ramesses II from the Valley of the Kings which, with the aid of workers and a sledge, he transported to the Nile and on to Bloomsbury.

The Italian, who was the first to rediscover the entrance to the second pyramid of Giza, was later described as the “most notorious tomb-robber Egypt has ever known”. He died in Benin, west Africa in 1823 at the age of 45 after developing dysentery. He had set off to Timbuktu in search of the source of the Niger River.

Daniel Katz, who is donating the portrait of Belzoni, runs an art gallery under his own name in London. He said that he had acquired the portrait because of his “deep love for the study of Egyptology”. He said that Belzoni had been “responsible for bringing some of the most important and beautiful ancient works of art to this country”.

To read the complete article, see:
Strongman of the circus who hauled Egypt’s treasures to UK (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/strongman-of-the-circus-who-hauled-egypts-treasures-touk-90z32phqm)

David adds:

Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Venetian explorer, actor, and engineer. 1778-1823. Medal issued in silver and bronze. (approx. 53mm.). Designed by T. I. Wells after a sketch by William Brockedon; Manufactured by Edward. Thomason in England. Dated 1818 (though struck 1821/1822). GIOVANNI BELZONI, bare head left / OPENED BY G. BELZONI. The pyramid on the reverse of the medal is actually incorrect, and depicts the Third Pyramid of Giza [Khufu] . Belzoni actually discovered the entrance to the Second Pyramid and chiseled his name BELZONI above the entrance. [Khafre] ; MARCH 2ND 1818 in exergue. BHM 969; Eimer 1105. Rare.

This rare medal by a now unknown admirer commemorates the feats of Giovanni Battista Belzoni, Venetian explorer, actor, and engineer. 1778-1823. Ironically, the medal’s designer T.I. Wells did not select the correct Giza pyramid, so the incorrect reverse image is of the third Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu’s pyramid) with the distinctive top roof is slightly caved in making it look “lopped off”, not the Second Pyramid of Khafre that Belzoni actually opened. This medal was created during his lifetime, commissioned by several of his British friends. It is rare. There is an example of this medal in the Petrie Collection at University College, London. There are examples in the British Museum, the Ashomolean, Fitzwilliam and Birmingham museums.

Giovanni Battista Belzoni was born in Padua in 1778, and prior to becoming one of the earliest Egyptologists of the day, was a circus performer in England. He was multi-talented, as he was also a hydraulic engineer, an actor and an artist. A giant at 6 foot, 7 inches tall, he was extremely strong and promoted as the 'Patagonian Sampson' at Sadler's Wells Theatre. Later he styled himself as ‘The Great Belzoni’ all over Europe. His interests in Egyptian travel led him there, where he attempted to promoted improved hydraulic machines to raise he waters of the Nile.

He was eventually drawn to acquiring Egyptian antiquities. In partnership with the British ambassador to Egypt, Henry Salt (1815-1827) he worked as Salt’s agent to remove and ship the massive bust Ramses II (the ‘Young Memnon’) to the British Museum. His biggest discovery was the discovery of an entrance to the Second Pyramid of Giza (known as the Pyramid of Khafre/Chefren), which he was the first to open and explore. He was the first European to visit the oasis of Siwah. He found six royal tombs in the Valley of the Kings, He discovered the ruined city of Berenice (on the Red Sea.) Belzoni was a pioneer Egyptologist, with many major achievements, yet few remember him today. Belzoni died prematurely at the age of 45 while searching for a route to Timbuktu. Considered a rogue, he died unappreciated by most scholars in the new field of archeology to which he contributed much. He was instrumental in the transport of some of the best Egyptian relics in the British Museum, a difficult task , particularly in the early 1800s. There are several good books on his life and achievements, THE GREAT BELZONI, by Stanley Mayes (1959 and 2003), and Belzoni: The Giant Archeologists Love to Hate by Ivor Noel Hume(2011) .

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