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Tomb of the Virgin, Jerusalem
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In 1854, Auguste Salzmann was commissioned by the French Ministry of Public Instruction to document the holy city of Jerusalem. His charge was to substantiate the controversial theories about dating ancient ruins proposed by his friend, Louis Félicien de Saulcy, a noted antiquarian. Unlike almost all other photographers documenting architecture in the 19th century, Salzmann relied on extreme close-up views. In this example, he eliminated most of the building, concentrating on the door of the tomb and its surrounding architectural elements. As a result, all indications of scale, terrain, placement, and context normally found in documentary photographs are absent, while the abstract textural and surface qualities of the tomb are emphasized.
| Artist / Maker | Auguste Salzmann |
|---|---|
| Date | 1854 |
| Culture / Origin | France, 19th century |
| Medium | salted paper print, Blanquart-Évrard process, from waxed paper negative |
| Dimensions | Image: 22.7 x 32.8 cm (8 15/16 x 12 15/16 in.); Matted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.) |
| Department | Photography |
| Type | Photograph |
About the Artist
Auguste Salzmann French, 1824-1872 Born into a family of painters in Ribeauvillé, Haut-Rhin in Alsace, Auguste Salzmann exhibited his canvases of landscapes in the Paris Salons of 1847, 1848, and 1850. This artistic background, along with his distinctive subject matter, contributed to Salzmann's photographic style. His photographs were exhibited only once during his lifetime, at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris. Primarily interested in archaeology, he belonged to no photographic societies and considered his photographic work merely a tool. Salzmann… Full biography →
Provenance & Source
Image & data: Cleveland Museum of Art, CC0 / Public Domain.
Condition
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