Wooden Staircase at Chartres
Henri Le Secq was a learned and cultivated man, a painter and a passionate collector of old master prints and medieval ironwork. He counted among his close friends the peintre-graveur Charles Meryon and the photographers Charles Nègre and Gustave Le Gray (both colleagues from the studio of Paul Delaroche); from the latter he learned the process of paper-negative photography. In the early 1850s, Le Secq applied his artistic training to the production of photographs notable for their expressive interpretation of historic architecture, quiet landscapes, and intimate still lifes.
The Commission des Monuments Historiques was so impressed with the results of Le Secq's "mission héliographique" of 1851, which meticulously documented the cathedrals of Reims and Strasbourg, that they asked him to photograph Chartres cathedral in a similar manner. Le Secq fulfilled this second commission in 1852, producing more than forty views of the Gothic monument and its sculptural program. It was characteristic of Le Secq that he should also have explored the side streets of the pilgrimage town and made this view of the sixteenth-century spiral staircase of carved oak, known as the Staircase of Queen Berthe.
The Commission des Monuments Historiques was so impressed with the results of Le Secq's "mission héliographique" of 1851, which meticulously documented the cathedrals of Reims and Strasbourg, that they asked him to photograph Chartres cathedral in a similar manner. Le Secq fulfilled this second commission in 1852, producing more than forty views of the Gothic monument and its sculptural program. It was characteristic of Le Secq that he should also have explored the side streets of the pilgrimage town and made this view of the sixteenth-century spiral staircase of carved oak, known as the Staircase of Queen Berthe.
Artwork Details
- Title: Wooden Staircase at Chartres
- Artist: Henri-Jean-Louis Le Secq (French, Paris 1818–1882 Paris)
- Date: 1852
- Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
- Dimensions: Image: 12 7/8 × 9 3/16 in. (32.7 × 23.4 cm)
Sheet: 12 7/8 × 9 3/16 in. (32.7 × 23.4 cm)
Primary Mount: 19 15/16 in. × 13 13/16 in. (50.6 × 35.1 cm)
Secondary Mount: 21 1/16 in. × 15 3/16 in. (53.5 × 38.6 cm) - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
- Object Number: 2005.100.35
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Henri-Jean-Louis Le Secq
1852
Henri-Jean-Louis Le Secq
1852
Henri-Jean-Louis Le Secq
1852
Henri-Jean-Louis Le Secq
1852–53
Henri-Jean-Louis Le Secq
ca. 1851
Research Resources
The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.
To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.
Feedback
We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.