Marble Room
Late 19th century
Medium
Albumen print, stereo
Dimensions
Each image: 7.8 × 7.5 cm (3 1/8 × 3 in.); Card: 8.9 × 17.8 cm (3 9/16 × 7 1/16 in.)
Classification
photography
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
198678
Art Historical Context
Step into the opulent "Marble Room," a captivating late 19th-century stereograph by photographer Chas. S. Cudlip. Captured as an albumen—a technique using egg white to create richly toned images on paper—this work presents paired 7.8 × 7.5 cm views mounted on an 8.9 × 17.8 cm card. Viewed through a stereoscope, the dual images merge into a vivid three-dimensional scene, immersing viewers in the room's lavish marble architecture, likely an interior from a grand public or institutional space. Stereographs like this one exploded in popularity during the Victorian era, offering affordable "virtua...