[Amphitheater, Nîmes]
Instead of photographing the entire arena in Nîmes, as he had two years earlier, Baldus focusses here on a section of the façade, playing the superimposed arches against the vertical, shadowed pylons in the foreground. The resulting composition manages to isolate and monumentalize the architecture, while creating a rhythmic play of light and dark that energizes the picture. The photograph was part of a massive, four-year project, Villes de France photographiées, in which the views from the south of France were said to surpass all of the photographer’s previous work in the region.
Artwork Details
- Title: [Amphitheater, Nîmes]
- Artist: Edouard Baldus (French (born Prussia), 1813–1889)
- Date: ca. 1853
- Medium: Salted paper print from paper negative
- Dimensions: Overall: 12 3/8 × 15 3/16 in. (31.5 × 38.5 cm)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gift of Joyce F. Menschel, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2019
- Object Number: 2019.348.3
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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