Santa Barbara and Mission Church
1876, printed ca. 1876
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Carole and Irwin Lainoff, Ruth P. Lasser and Joseph R. Lasser, Mr. and Mrs. John T. Marvin, Martin E. and Joan Messinger, Richard L. Yett and Sheri and Paul Siegel, 1986
Accession Number
1986.1189.77
Tags
Art Historical Context
Carleton E. Watkins, pioneering American photographer of the 19th century, captured majestic Santa Barbara Mission Church in this stunning 1876 albumen print. Nestled along California's central coast, the mission—founded in 1786 as one of the 21 Spanish colonial outposts—stands as a symbol of early European settlement and Franciscan influence in the region. Watkins' image beautifully frames the whitewashed adobe church against a vast landscape, highlighting its architectural elegance and the rugged beauty of the surrounding hills, evoking a sense of timeless serenity. Rendered from a large gl...
About the Artist
Carleton E. Watkins · 1829–1916
Carleton E. Watkins (1829–1916), one of America's pioneering landscape photographers, was born on November 11, 1829, in Oneonta, New York, the eldest of eight children to carpenter John Watkins and innkeeper Julia. Drawn by the Gold Rush, he arrived in San Francisco in 1851 at age 22 alongside childhood friend Collis Huntington, who later became a railroad tycoon. Initially working as a carpenter ...