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Batterie Ouest de Malakoff

1855
Not on view
The day after the fall of Sebastopol, the Russian-held Crimean capital on the Black Sea, Colonel Langlois was commissioned by the French Ministry of War to photograph the defenses of the city, which had been under siege for more than a year. His view of the vanquished enemy's fort is more somber than triumphant. The now-silent cannons, roughly constructed fortifications, and depleted pile of cannon balls vie for attention amid overwhelming stillness, with a single shoe left behind by one of the Russian defenders.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Batterie Ouest de Malakoff
  • Artist: Jean Charles Langlois (French, 1789–1870)
  • Date: 1855
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from paper negative
  • Dimensions: 24.5 x 31.7 cm (9 5/8 x 12 1/2 in.)
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Purchase, The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 1999
  • Object Number: 1999.71
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs

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