Treasury of Reims Cathedral

Art Historical Context

Welcome to the National Gallery of, where Charles Marville's *Treasury of Reims Cathedral* (c. 1854) offers a captivating glimpse into 19th-century France. Marville, Paris's official photographer from 1851 to 1879, was renowned for his meticulous documentation of historic architecture before urban transformations. Here, he turns his lens to the opulent treasury of Reims Cathedral—a Gothic masterpiece famed for crowning French kings, including Charles VII in the presence of Joan of Arc. salted paper print, measuring 23.1 × 34.5 cm, immortalizes the sacred space's intricate reliquaries, goldwork, and architectural details with documentary precision. Created via the salted paper process, an early calotype variant pioneered by William Henry Fox Talbot, the image boasts warm, subtle tones and fine grain that evoke the era's pioneering photography. In 1854, such prints were revolutionary, bridging art and science to preserve vanishing medieval splendor amid France's modernization. Marville's composition highlights the treasury's grandeur, underscoring photography's emerging role in cultural heritage. This piece, acquired through the Pepita Milmore Memorial Fund, reminds us how 19th-century innovators like Marville safeguarded history, inviting us to marvel at Reims's enduring legacy.

About the Artist

Charles Marville · 1813–1879

**Charles Marville**, born Charles François Bossu on July 17, 1813, in Paris, adopted his professional pseudonym around 1832 to avoid the stigma of "bossu," meaning hunchback in French. Trained as a painter, engraver, and illustrator, he spent nearly two decades producing woodblock illustrations for books and magazines before embracing photography around 1850. His transition coincided with the med...