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Angel, Sainte-Chapelle

A work made of salted paper print.
Public Domain

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  • A work made of salted paper print.

Date:

1853-54

Artist:

Auguste Mestral
French, 1812–1884

About this artwork

Auguste Mestral was one of five photographers hired by the French government in 1851 to document the nation’s architectural heritage in photographic surveys known as the Heliographic Missions. A few years later, the sculptor Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy Dechaume commissioned him to record the angels of the Passion he had just produced for the restoration of Sainte-Chapelle, a splendid 13th-century chapel in the heart of Paris. Mestral photographed each sculpture on the ground, backed with a white sheet to set it off, before it was hoisted into place atop the spires. The angel depicted here bears some of the instruments of the Passion, objects associated with Christ’s torments on the cross. This iconography, while not historically accurate, forms part of a 19th-century fascination with the Middle Ages.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

O. Mestral

Title

Angel, Sainte-Chapelle

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 1853–1854

Medium

Salted paper print

Dimensions

33.4 × 20.7 cm (image/paper); mount: 51.5 × 40.2 cm (20 1/4 × )

Credit Line

Purchased with funds provided by Anstiss and Ronald Krueck in honor of Dr. Paul Urnes

Reference Number

2001.60

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/157057/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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