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Jérusalem, Tombeau des Juges, Détails

1854
Not on view
Auguste Salzmann’s camera cannot penetrate this evocative void. The view of an ancient tomb in Jerusalem is audaciously blank, due in part to technological limitations; no reliable flash technology existed in the 1850s, and his paper negatives were not sensitive enough to be exposed in the low light of the tomb. The results are atypical for Salzmann, whose journey to Palestine was driven by a desire for clarity; he was inspired by disputes in the French archaeological community about the age of Jerusalem’s holy sites and the extent to which they coincided with biblical chronology. Because such arguments were often illustrated by unverifiable drawings, Salzmann hoped that photographic evidence might settle debate back home. This print, from his resulting album, is an enigmatic exception to the documentary project. Refusing comprehension, it illustrates the uncertainties of a still-emerging technology, as if to suggest the limits of what can be seen.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Jérusalem, Tombeau des Juges, Détails
  • Artist: Auguste Salzmann (French, 1824–1872)
  • Printer: Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille (French, active 1851–55)
  • Date: 1854
  • Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
  • Dimensions: Image: 23.2 x 32.5 cm (9 1/8 x 12 13/16 in.)
    Mount: 44.8 x 60.1 cm (17 5/8 x 23 11/16 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
  • Object Number: 2005.100.373.59
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Jerusalem, Etude et reproduction photographique des monuments de la ville sainte depuis l' époque judaique jusqu'à nos jours 1856, Auguste Salzmann French, Salted paper prints from paper negatives
Jerusalem, Etude et reproduction photographique des monuments de la ville sainte depuis l' époque judaique jusqu'à nos jours 1856
Auguste Salzmann
Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille
1854, printed 1856
Mémoire sur la nature et l'âge respectif des divers appareils de maçonnerie employés dans l'enceinte extérieure du Harem-Ech-Chérif de Jérusalem
Multiple artists/makers
1860s
Jérusalem, Saint Sépulcre, Vue générale de la Chapelle du Calvaire, Auguste Salzmann French, Salted paper print from paper negative
Jérusalem, Saint Sépulcre, Vue générale de la Chapelle du Calvaire
Auguste Salzmann
Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille
1854
Jérusalem, Saint Sépulcre, abside, Auguste Salzmann French, Salted paper print from paper negative
Jérusalem, Saint Sépulcre, abside
Auguste Salzmann
Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille
1854
Jérusalem, croix en argent ciselé, donnée par Louis XIII à l'Eglise du Saint Sépulcre, Auguste Salzmann French, Salted paper prints from paper negative
Jérusalem, croix en argent ciselé, donnée par Louis XIII à l'Eglise du Saint Sépulcre
Auguste Salzmann
Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille
1854

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