Monuments and Chancel Steps, Tenby Church
1870s
Medium
Albumen silver print
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1971
Accession Number
1971.590.4
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the hallowed quiet of Tenby Church with Francis Bedford's *Monuments and Chancel Steps* (1870s), a captivating albumen silver print that freezes a moment in Victorian-era ecclesiastical splendor. Bedford, a pioneering British photographer renowned for his architectural documentation, masterfully captures the church's interior in Tenby, Wales—likely St. Mary's, famed for its medieval monuments and ornate chancel steps. The image draws viewers toward weathered tombs and ascending stairs, evoking the layered history of worship and remembrance in this coastal parish church. Crafted via ...
About the Artist
Francis Bedford · 1816–1894
Francis Bedford (1816–1894) was a pioneering British photographer, born in London as the eldest son of the church architect Francis Octavius Bedford.) He trained as an architectural draughtsman and lithographer, exhibiting drawings of architectural subjects from his late teens and listing "Lithographic Artist" as his profession in the 1851 census.) In the early 1850s, Bedford turned to photography...