u/No_Firefighter194

Just by looking at L'Hôte's watercolours one can understands that he is a professional - little or no pencil tracing beforehand, little or no gouache. A transparency linked to the boldness of the colours demonstrates the mastery with which L'Hôte used this medium.

The drawings of L'Hôte kept at the Louvre show the same mastery of the watercolours. Drawn on all kind of papers and in different scales, they are of a remarkable quality. The use of criss-crossed lines gives power as well as foreground framing to the views, and suggests the zoom of a camera."

In his notebooks and in numerous letters (mainly sent to his parents), Nestor L'Hôte describes his fascination for Egypt, but also the very hard working conditions of his three expeditions. Diane Harlé translates some of them, focussed on the Panorama of Cairo, seen from the Citadel, and on the Portrait of the Pasha. L'Hôte's style can be appreciated through these few lines, written on September 23, 1828:

Is there any image or test shot from replica or an actual one to see what planet or moon look like through it, given how small it is, I’m curious to see the result so one day I could work with my local carpenter and build an exact replica of it.