[South Portal, Chartres Cathedral]
The deep shadows framing this doorway at Chartres create spatial depth and draw the viewer’s gaze toward a tiny detail: a small lamp hanging in the center of the open doorway. Marville’s keen ability to harness the play of light, especially against three-dimensional surfaces, made him a sought-after photographer of architecture and sculpture. This print was formerly in the collection of the sculptor Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume, who contributed to the restoration of Chartres in the 1850s and frequently hired Marville to photograph his work.
Artwork Details
- Title: [South Portal, Chartres Cathedral]
- Artist: Charles Marville (French, Paris 1813–1879 Paris)
- Date: 1854
- Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
- Dimensions: 21.5 x 15.5 cm (8 7/16 x 6 1/8 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke Gift and The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2000
- Object Number: 2000.292
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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Charles Marville (French, Paris 1813–1879 Paris)
May 1865
Charles Marville (French, Paris 1813–1879 Paris)
ca. 1852
Charles Marville (French, Paris 1813–1879 Paris)
1850–53
Charles Marville (French, Paris 1813–1879 Paris)
1850–53
Charles Marville (French, Paris 1813–1879 Paris)
1860s–70s
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