House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii

1852–53

Not on view

Born in Paris, Le Dien studied law and served as a clerk before relocating to Algiers in 1848. He took up photography as an amateur while working as a deputy magistrate for the colonial government. Upon returning to Paris, he befriended a group of artists, writers, and aristocrats with ties to the photographer Gustave Le Gray. Between 1852 and 1853 Le Dien traveled to Italy with the painters Léon Gérard and Alexandre de Vonne. On a journey to Rome, Naples, Pompeii, and the Amalfi Coast, Le Dien produced architectural photographs of monuments and landscapes using the process of waxed paper negatives invented by Le Gray. His striking view of the House of the Dioscuri brings a geometric order to the ruined site, which had first been excavated between 1826 and 1832.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii
Artist: Firmin-Eugène Le Dien (French, 1817–1865)
Printer: Gustave Le Gray (French, 1820–1884)
Date: 1852–53
Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions: Image: 12 7/16 × 9 3/16 in. (31.6 × 23.3 cm)
Mount: 19 5/16 in. × 13 13/16 in. (49.1 × 35.1 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Fund, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2019
Object Number: 2019.70
Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

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in collaboration with Gustave Le Gray
ca. 1855

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