Chartres
This idiosyncratic view of the thirteenth-century figures on the south porch of Chartres cathedral reveals this artist's expressive use of the limitations of the camera's narrow field of vision and of the propensity of the paper negative to accentuate shadow and soften detail. Beneath a canopy of deep shadow, Saints Martin of Tours, Jerome, and Gregory the Great emerge between a "no littering" sign at the left and a pillar in the right foreground. This angled, partial view is more closely allied to the way one gradually perceives the world than to conventions of artistic description or architectural rendering.
An account in the May 1, 1852, issue of the photographic journal "La Lumière" reported that Peccarère had gone to Chartres with paper negatives prepared according to Le Gray's method and returned to Paris just one day later with twenty-five exposures--not an inconceivable task for one whose pictorial practice was so closely linked to a natural way of seeing. Once thought "primitive" because of their deviation from pictorial traditions, such pictures are now prized for that very freedom of visual invention.
An account in the May 1, 1852, issue of the photographic journal "La Lumière" reported that Peccarère had gone to Chartres with paper negatives prepared according to Le Gray's method and returned to Paris just one day later with twenty-five exposures--not an inconceivable task for one whose pictorial practice was so closely linked to a natural way of seeing. Once thought "primitive" because of their deviation from pictorial traditions, such pictures are now prized for that very freedom of visual invention.
Artwork Details
- Title: Chartres
- Artist: Pierre Emile Joseph Pécarrère (French, 1816–1904)
- Date: 1850–52
- Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
- Dimensions: Sheet: 10 13/16 × 8 1/2 in. (27.4 × 21.6 cm)
Image: 10 1/4 × 8 1/8 in. (26.1 × 20.6 cm) - Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Purchase, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Gift, 2005
- Object Number: 2005.100.37
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
More Artwork
A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.
Pierre Emile Joseph Pécarrère
1850–52
Pierre Emile Joseph Pécarrère
1850s
Pierre Emile Joseph Pécarrère
ca. 1852
Pierre Emile Joseph Pécarrère
1850–52
Charles Nègre
1858–59
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.