Chapiteaux Colorés, Pompeii (Painted Columns, Pompeii)
Medium
albumen print
Dimensions
image/sheet: 23.8 × 31.6 cm (9 3/8 × 12 7/16 in.) mount: 42.8 × 59.6 cm (16 7/8 × 23 7/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Charles Isaacs and Carol Nigro Ph.D
Accession Number
2018.23.14
Rights
Public Domain
Art Historical Context
Step into the sunlit ruins of ancient Pompeii through *Chapiteaux Colorés,ii (Painted Columns Pompeii)*, a 1853 albumen by Firmin Eugène Dien in collaboration with the pioneering photographer Gustave Le Gray This image captures the vibrant, frescoed capitals of columns from the buried Roman city, destroyed by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD and rediscovered centuries later. Le Gray, a master of early photography renowned for his architectural and landscape work, joined Le Dien on a trip to Italy, using the camera to document these archaeological treasures with unprecedented precision and tonal richnes...