  We present the results of the detailed surface photometry of a sample of
early-type galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field. Effective radii, surface
brightnesses and total V_606 magnitudes have been obtained, as well as U_300,
B_450, I_814, J, H and K colors, which are compared with the predictions of
chemical-spectrophotometric models of population synthesis. Spectroscopic
redshifts are available for 23 objects. For other 25 photometric redshifts are
given. In the <mu_e>-r_e plane the early-type galaxies of the HDF, once the
appropriate K+E corrections are applied, turn out to follow the `rest frame'
Kormendy relation. This evidence, linked to the dynamical information gathered
by Steidel et al.(1996), indicates that these galaxies, even at z~2-3, lie in
the Fundamental Plane, in a virial equilibrium condition. At the same redshifts
a statistically significant lack of large galaxies [i.e. with Log r_e(kpc) >
0.2] is observed.

Astrophysics