ticketsMember | Make a donation

Sappho

Julia Margaret Cameron British, born India
1865
Not on view
Mary Hillier, a beautiful young house servant at Dimbola, Cameron's home in Freshwater, was often pressed into photographic service, frequently in the role of the Virgin Mary. She managed to assume her various guises in a remarkably unselfconscious way, projecting both gentleness and strength of character. Hillier is also the model for Cameron's Sappho, a profile portrait in the Florentine Quattrocento style, perhaps inspired by the chromolithographic reproductions of Italian paintings distributed by the Arundel Society, of which Cameron was a member. The image has great presence, so much so that Cameron decided to print it even though she broke the negative. Precisely what the picture has to do with the Greek poet of Lesbos is unclear, especially since Cameron inscribed another print of the same image Adriana. The titles of two close variants reveal that, by looking left instead of right, Hillier was apparently transformed from Sappho into Dora or, when photographed from one step further back, Clio. Although Cameron often set out to portray a certain ideal, she also titled pictures after the fact, sometimes because the image seemed to embody the character of a certain literary or biblical figure, but sometimes, one suspects, quite simply because there was more of a market for images of the Virgin, Sappho, or Christabel than for portraits of the photographer's niece or a parlor maid from the Isle of Wight.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Sappho
  • Artist: Julia Margaret Cameron (British (born India), Calcutta 1815–1879 Kalutara, Ceylon)
  • Date: 1865
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
  • Dimensions: 35 x 27.3 cm (13 3/4 x 10 3/4 in. )
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: The Rubel Collection, Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke and Anonymous Gifts, 1997
  • Object Number: 1997.382.39
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

More Artwork

More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Julia Margaret Cameron British, born India, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Julia Margaret Cameron
ca. 1865
Queen Guinevere, Julia Margaret Cameron British, born India, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Queen Guinevere
Julia Margaret Cameron
1874
The Passing of King Arthur, Julia Margaret Cameron British, born India, Albumen silver print from glass negative
The Passing of King Arthur
Julia Margaret Cameron
1874
King Arthur, Julia Margaret Cameron British, born India, Albumen silver print from glass negative
King Arthur
Julia Margaret Cameron
September 1874
Gareth and Lynette, Julia Margaret Cameron British, born India, Albumen silver print from glass negative
Gareth and Lynette
Julia Margaret Cameron
1874

Related Content

Timeline of Art History

Entries from The Met's art encyclopedia.

Publications

Books, guides, and catalogues published by The Met.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.