S. Giovanni Laterano
1848–52
Medium
Albumen print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 8 11/16 × 11 5/16 in. (22 × 28.7 cm) Sheet: 12 1/8 × 18 1/2 in. (30.8 × 47 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.799 (6)
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the mid-19th century, French photographer Eugène Constant captured the grandeur of Rome's architectural treasures, including this stunning albumen print of *S. Giovanni Laterano*, created between 1848 and 1852. The Basilica of Saint John Lateran, the pope's cathedral and one of the city's oldest churches (dating to the 4th century), stands as a testament to early Christian architecture with its layered history of Renaissance and Baroque additions. Constant's image freezes its majestic facade and towering apse against a clear sky, inviting viewers to appreciate the intricate details of colum...
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...