Unidentified photographer
1870 (ca)
Statues from the Sanctuary of Gogoi-Ayios Photios, Cyprus

Salted paper print
6 5/8 x 8 3/4 in.
 
Archive Farms
The Patrick Montgomery Collection, Object No. 2017.100.
 
(Patrick Montgomery, 20 April 2023) The statue on the left is now in the Luigi Palma di Cesnola collection at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The story of the Cesnola Collection is almost as colorful as that of its creator, Luigi Palma di Cesnola. After a military career in both Europe and the American Civil War, Cesnola was appointed American consul in Cyprus in 1865. During the next few years, he amassed an unrivaled collection of Cypriot antiquities through extensive excavations and by purchase. In 1870 Cesnola had negotiations with Napoleon III of France, who wished to acquire the entire collection for the Musée du Louvre, and then with Russian officials for possible transfer to the State Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. Cesnola ultimately shipped the collection to London where its exhibition aroused considerable public interest and caught the attention of the newly founded Metropolitan Museum of Art. They acquired the bulk of the works, the purchase being funded by public subscription with several leading business tycoons making substantial contributions. Cesnola accompanied his collection back to New York and in 1877 joined the Museum's board of trustees and served as its first director from 1879 until his death in 1904.
 
LL/126770