A temple seen from above

Give yourself a moment to take in the model as a whole. A large temple can be difficult to understand when you meet it through separate walls, columns and sculptures. Here, you can look across the Ramesseum from above and begin to see how its spaces belong together. This wooden model was made in 1999. Model-makers Philippe and Marine Marathée worked with Jean-Claude Golvin, an architect, to create the reconstruction. Its pale limewood brings the different parts into one material, helping your eyes concentrate on the arrangement and scale of the building. Let your gaze travel from the outside towards the centre. Notice where the model appears open and where the construction becomes denser. You are looking at a modern interpretation of an ancient complex, so a completed section of the model should not be taken as proof that the same part survives intact in Egypt. That is what makes a model useful to look at thoughtfully: it brings a large place within view while inviting you to ask how its scattered remains fit together.