Jérusalem, Côté Est de Jérusalem

Art Historical Context

In 1854, French photographer Auguste Salzmann capturedJérusalem, Côté Est de Jérusalem (Jerusalem, East Side of), a poignant salted paper print from a paper negative, produced by the innovative Imprimerie photographique Blanquart-Évrard in Lille. This early photographic process, akin to the calotype, involved sensitizing paper with salt and silver nitrate to create soft, atmospheric images rich in tonal depth. Measuring 22.6 x 32.2 cm on its, the work exemplifies mid-19th-century photography's pioneering role in documenting distant lands with unprecedented fidelity. Salzmann's image depicts the east side of Jerusalem, focusing on its ancient architecture and evocative ruins—hallmarks of the city's layered history as a sacred crossroads of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Amid rising European fascination with biblical archaeology and Orientalism, Salzmann journeyed to the Holy Land in 1853–54, producing one of the first comprehensive photographic surveys of its monuments. His views preserved crumbling walls and timeless structures, offering viewers a window into a rapidly changing world. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this print highlights photography's artistic and evidentiary power. Blanquart-Évrard's commercial printing advanced the medium's accessibility, transforming Salzmann's fieldwork into enduring artifacts that blend documentary precision with poetic ruin-gazing, inviting us to ponder Jerusalem's eternal allure.

About the Artist

Auguste Salzmann|Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard, à Lille · 1824–1872

Born 15 april 1824. Salzmann travelled to Palestine in 1850 to 1851 as a draughtsman for a French expedition to the East. Salzmann returned to Paris, France in 1851 and learned photography which he used as an aid to his archaeological research. In 1853 Salzmann was commissioned by the Ministry of Public Instruction to visit Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the islands of the Archipelago to photograph ...