Carte photographique de la lune, planche II (Photographic Chart of the Moon, plate II)
March 15, 1902, printed 1914
Medium
photogravure with ink on tissue paper overlay
Dimensions
image: 31.1 × 25.5 cm (12 1/4 × 10 1/16 in.) plate: 38.9 × 29.5 cm (15 5/16 × 11 5/8 in.) sheet: 49 × 37.9 cm (19 5/16 × 14 15/16 in.) tissue: 42.55 × 37.47 cm (16 3/4 × 14 3/4 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund
Accession Number
2018.22.1.2
Art Historical Context
**Carte photographique de la, planche II** by Charles le Morvan the moon's cratered surface in exquisite detail, dated March 15, 1902, and printed in 1914. This, part of a series of photographic lunar charts, reflects the era's fascination with celestial mapping, when astronomers relied on earthbound telescopes to document the moon's topography before space exploration. Le Morvan, a skilled in astronomical photography, contributed to the visual documentation of the cosmos at a time when such images bridged scientific inquiry and artistic precision. The work's medium—photogravure with ink on t...
About the Artist
Charles le Morvan
Charles Le Morvan (1865–1932), born Charles Marie Le Morvan in Pleubian, Brittany, emerged as a pivotal figure in the dawn of astronomical photography during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Joining the Paris Observatory staff in 1890, he worked as an assistant to astronomers Maurice Loewy and Pierre Puiseux, contributing essential photographic observations and glass plate prepar...