Fragment from Balustrade of the Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens

ca. 1882

Not on view

Stillman had a multifaceted career as a painter, photographer, art critic, journalist, diplomat, and amateur archeologist. Following a brief period as a landscape painter with ties to the Pre-Raphaelites, he became the founding editor of the art journal The Crayon and spent much of his time abroad, working as a correspondent for London and New York newspapers. In 1859 he took up photography and put his new skills to use while serving as American consul to Rome and Crete. His most accomplished photographs are his sensitive, detailed studies of the Acropolis in Athens, which he made in 1869 and again in 1882. This luminous close-up of a winged Victory reaching down to fasten her sandal was published in Stillman’s book, On the Track of Ulysses (1888), an account of his archaeological
adventures around the Mediterranean.

Artwork Details

Title: Fragment from Balustrade of the Temple of Athena Nike, Acropolis, Athens
Artist: William James Stillman (American, Schenectady, New York 1828–1901 Surrey)
Date: ca. 1882
Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions: Image: 10 1/2 × 8 1/8 in. (26.7 × 20.6 cm)
Mount: 15 7/8 in. × 13 15/16 in. (40.4 × 35.4 cm)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2005
Object Number: 2005.100.1149
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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The Acropolis of Athens : illustrated picturesquesly and architecturally by photographs, reproduced from the originals by W. J. Stillman

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