The Foundry
1870s–80s
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 36.6 x 47.9 cm (14 7/16 x 18 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2008
Accession Number
2008.147
Tags
Art Historical Context
**The Foundry** by Louis Lafon, in the 1870s–80s, offers a striking glimpse into the heart of industrial Europe through the lens of 19th-century photography. albumen silver print, made from a glass negative measures 36.6 x 47.9 cm and captures the energy of a foundry interior space alive with machinery, molten metal, and the labor of industry. Lafon's image, now housed in the Metropolitan Museum Art's Department of Photographs (purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society, 2008), reflects the era's fascination with technological progress during the height of the Industrial Revolution. The albumen proce...