Botanical Garden
1860s–70s
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
27.4 x 20.2 cm (10 13/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Matthew Dontzin, 1985
Accession Number
1985.1168.73
Tags
About this artwork
This atmospheric photograph captures a botanical garden during the 1860s or 1870s, employing the albumen silver print process that dominated nineteenth-century photography. Created by an unknown photographer, the image was produced from a glass negative and bears the inscription 'BOT. GARDEN S. 202' within the negative itself, suggesting it belonged to a larger systematic documentation project. The albumen print process, involving paper coated with egg white and sensitized with silver salts, bec...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...