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Auguste Salzmann
Jérusalem, Couvent Arménien, Ornements, 1
[Jerusalem]
1854
Salted paper print, from paper negative, Imprimerie photographique de Blanquart-Évrard
31 x 22.9 cm (12 3/16 x 9 ins) (image) 59.9 x 44.8 cm (23 9/16 x 17 5/8 ins) (mount)
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, Accession Number: 2005.100.373.122
LL/69135
Curatorial description (accessed: 3 October 2016)
Salzmann centers this composition on a covered window at what he identifies as an Armenian monastery. His vantage point emphasizes the textural variation among the intricate designs chiseled into the gridlike pattern of the stone wall. Shadows created by the sun’s high position outline the areas of carved relief and provide the contrast needed for a legible photograph. Although these examples of ornament hold significant cultural and religious meaning for the monastery’s inhabitants, Salzmann was interested only in their aesthetic qualities.
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