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Vantail de la porte Saint Marcel, Notre Dame, Paris
Bisson Frères (French, active in 1841–1864)
Inclusive of: Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (French, 1826–1900)
Inclusive of: Louis-Auguste Bisson (French, 1814–1876)
Inclusive of: Auguste-Rosalie Bisson (French, 1826–1900)
Inclusive of: Louis-Auguste Bisson (French, 1814–1876)
about 1853
Medium/Technique
Photograph, albumen print
Dimensions
Image: 39.2 x 25.6 cm (15 7/16 x 10 1/16 in.)
Mount: 55.8 x 36 cm (21 15/16 x 14 3/16 in.)
Mount: 55.8 x 36 cm (21 15/16 x 14 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Charles Amos Cummings Fund
Accession Number1990.473
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsEurope, Photography
ClassificationsPhotographs
The Bisson frères were among the most prominent French photographers of their day. Active in photography since the 1840s, the firm excelled at large-scale photographs of architecture and sculpture. In this detail of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, the Bissons showcase the genius of medieval ironwork and sculpture. The flat composition, reminiscent of an ornamental engraving, uses a deep zone of shadow to divide, and thus highlight, the intricate wrought-iron arabesques decorating the door and the elongated figure of Saint Marcel adorning the trumeau.
InscriptionsTitled on mount, bottom center: Vantail de la porte Saint-Marcel,/ dite Sainte Anne; On mount, l. r.: Bisson Fréres Photog. Imp. Lemercier, Paris.; On mount, l. l.: à Paris. A. Morel, éditeur, rue Ste Anne, 18
ProvenanceLee Gallery, Boston; purchased September 1990.