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Sculptural Frieze by Cavelier, Minerva Surrounded by the Muses of the Arts

A work made of cyanotype.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of cyanotype.

Date:

c. 1868

Artist:

Adolphe Terris
French, 1820–1900

About this artwork

A founding member of the Société Marseillaise de Photographie, Adolphe Terris was commissioned over a nearly 20-year period beginning in the early 1860s to document the large-scale public construction projects that were modernizing the city of Marseilles. He photographed the medieval streets of the old city as well as the newer railroad tracks, canals, boulevards, and government buildings. A print such as this would have been used as a reference for an architect (cyanotypes, or blue prints, could be made relatively easily and quickly), who could show building sponsors different proposed ornaments. Terris’s image of a plaster study by sculptor Pierre-Jules Cavelier reveals that even in a forward-looking building campaign, the preferred decoration harkened back to classical motifs.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Adolphe Terris

Title

Sculptural Frieze by Cavelier, Minerva Surrounded by the Muses of the Arts

Place

France (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1863–1873

Medium

Cyanotype

Dimensions

27.5 × 37.5 cm (image); 27.5 × 38.1 (paper)

Credit Line

The Mary and Leigh Block Endowment Fund

Reference Number

1998.24

IIIF Manifest  The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/150433/manifest.json

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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