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Sky Study, Paris
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This view frames the city so that the dome of the chapel of Les Invalides—a retirement home and hospital for military veterans—dominates the skyline. In the 1850s, the light-sensitive coatings for photographic plates were incapable of properly exposing both earth and the sky in a single shot. Marville here set his camera to capture the dramatic sky and clouds, which meant that the city below, for the most part, became a dark mass of undifferentiated buildings. The scale, drama, and majesty of this natural spectacle overwhelm human achievements.
| Artist / Maker | Charles Marville |
|---|---|
| Date | 1856–57 |
| Culture / Origin | France, 19th century |
| Medium | albumen print from wet collodion negative |
| Dimensions | Image: 15.3 x 21.4 cm (6 x 8 7/16 in.); Matted: 40.6 x 50.8 cm (16 x 20 in.) |
| Department | Photography |
| Type | Photograph |
About the Artist
At the invitation of the city of Paris, photographer Charles Marville was among the first to document the ancient quarters of his birthplace. His views, taken in the late 1850s, were intended to record the many buildings and neighborhoods ultimately destroyed by Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann's urban planning project that would create the boulevards and open spaces of modern Paris. While Marville's survey of the city, extensive and thorough in scope, prefigured other important efforts of its kind, it is distinguished… Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
Condition
A detailed condition report and high-resolution photography are available from our specialists in advance of the sale.
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