Antonio Beato - Deir el-Medineh, Sacred Barge - 1993.93 - Cleveland Museum of Art

Antonio Beato was an Italian-British photographer born in Venice in 1835. He was the younger brother of Felice Beato, who was also a photographer. Antonio Beato is best known for his photographs of Egypt and the Middle East. In the 1850s, Antonio Beato and his brother Felice travelled to Constantinople (now Istanbul), where they opened a photographic studio. They quickly gained a reputation for their photographs of the city and its landmarks, and were commissioned by the Ottoman government to document the country's architectural heritage. In the 1860s, Antonio Beato moved to Cairo, where he continued to photograph Egypt and the Middle East. He photographed famous landmarks such as the Pyramids of Giza, the Sphinx and the Temple of Karnak. He also took portraits of local people, including Bedouin tribesmen and members of the Egyptian royal family. Antonio Beato's photographs were widely published in books and magazines and were highly regarded for their technical quality and artistic composition. His images helped to popularise travel to Egypt and the Middle East and influenced other photographers who followed in his footsteps. Antonio Beato died in 1906 in Luxor, Egypt. His legacy lives on through his photographs, which are now held in collections around the world.