Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers
Medium
Salted paper print from paper negative
Dimensions
16.1 x 11.9 cm (6 5/16 x 4 11/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund and Warner Communication Inc. Purchase Fund, by exchange, 1997
Accession Number
1997.382.14
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers a captivating salted paper print from a paper negative, created around 1843 by the pioneering Scottish duo David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson. This intimate portrait, measuring just 16.1 x 11.9 cm, the stern yet thoughtful gaze of Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers a towering figure in 19th-century Scotland—a preacher, economist, and social reformer who led the dramatic "Disruption" of1843, splitting the of Scotland to form the Free Church. Hill, a skilled painter, and Adamson, a master chemist, collaborated from 1843 to 1848, produci...
About the Artist
David Octavius Hill|Robert Adamson|Hill and Adamson · 1802–1870
David Octavius Hill (1802–1870) was a Scottish painter, photographer, and arts administrator whose pioneering photography partnership with Robert Adamson from 1843 to 1847 transformed the medium into an art form. Born in Perth and trained in Edinburgh, Hill established himself as a landscape painter and became secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy, a position he held for nearly forty years. His ...