Sappho
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
35 x 27.3 cm (13 3/4 x 10 3/4 in. )
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke and Anonymous Gifts, 1997
Accession Number
1997.382.39
Tags
About this artwork
[Research in progress for Sappho by Julia Margaret Cameron, 1865]
Art Historical Context
Julia Margaret Cameron's *Sappho* (1865) is a captivating albumen silver print from a glass negative, measuring 35 x 27.3 cm. This intimate portrait captures a woman's profile in soft focus, evoking the ancient Greek lyric poet Sappho, known for her verses on love and beauty. Cameron, a pioneering Victorian photographer, transformed photography into a poetic art form, blurring sharp details to mimic Renaissance paintings and emphasize emotional depth. Created during Cameron's prolific Isle of Wight period, the image exemplifies her innovative wet-collodion process, where glass negatives produ...
About the Artist
Julia Margaret Cameron · 1815–1879
Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879), born Julia Margaret Pattle in Calcutta, India, emerged as one of the 19th century's most innovative photographers despite beginning her career at age 48. The daughter of East India Company official James Pattle and French aristocrat Adeline de l'Etang, she was educated in France from 1818 to 1834 alongside her six surviving sisters, renowned for their beauty and...