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Dumbarton Presbytery

A work made of salted paper print.
CC0 Public Domain Designation

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  • A work made of salted paper print.

Date:

March 29, 1845

Artist:

David Octavius Hill (Scottish, 1802–1870) and
Robert Adamson (Scottish, 1821–1848)

About this artwork

Painter and illustrator David Octavius Hill engaged photographer Robert Adamson to help him fulfill a monumental commission to commemorate the so-called Disruption of 1843, in which the Free Church of Scotland was formed when a group of ministers seceded from the country’s established church. Hill wished to portray each of the nearly 450 participants at the Disruption Assembly, and found an efficient means of doing so by working from photographs, specifically the recently patented paper negative process, which Adamson had begun practicing professionally earlier that year. Together, Hill and Adamson made around 2,500 images in the short period before Adamson’s illness and death; it then took Hill 20 years to complete the painting. This is one of the few carefully composed group portraits that Hill eventually transferred almost unchanged onto canvas—he painted one man as bald, however, to reflect his later appearance.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

David Octavius Hill

Title

Dumbarton Presbytery

Place

Scotland (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 1845

Medium

Salted paper print

Inscriptions

Inscribed recto, on hinged matte, upper right, in graphite: "17"; recto, on hinged matte, along bottom edge, in graphite: "Presbytery of Dumbarton / Alexander of Vettillianof [?] Gordsie [?] ? Rev. Boumer [?] / Schwarz 2.35 Amlocker [?] Cardron [?] Q1060jx"; unmarked verso

Dimensions

Image/paper: 14.1 × 19.2 cm (5 9/16 × 7 9/16 in.); Hinged matte: 19.2 × 28.2 cm (7 9/16 × 11 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Photography Associates Fund

Reference Number

2002.548

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/160195/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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