Foro e Colonna di Trajano
1848–52
Medium
Albumen print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 11 5/16 × 8 11/16 in. (28.8 × 22 cm) Sheet: 18 1/2 × 12 1/8 in. (47 × 30.8 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.799 (11)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, photography emerged as a revolutionary medium, Eugène Constant captured majestic ruins of Rome's *Foro e Colonna di Traj* (Forum and Tra's Column) between 8 and 1852. This albumen print from a glass showcases the towering Trajan's Column—a 2nd-century AD monument adorned with intricate spiral reliefs depicting Emperor Trajan's military victories—and the surrounding forum, a testament to ancient Rome's architectural grandeur. Constant, a French photographer based in Rome, documented these enduring symbols of imperial power amid their weathered state, offering viewers a ...
About the Artist
Eugène Constant · 1848–1855
Eugène Constant (before 1820 – after 1860) was a French painter who became one of the pioneering photographers of the 19th century, capturing the grandeur of Italy's ancient monuments with unprecedented clarity.) Trained as a painter in Paris during the early 1840s, where he maintained a studio at 31 rue du Marché-Saint-Honoré, Constant exhibited interior views of Venice's Basilica of San Marco an...