William J. Stillman Title Page with The Ancient Gate of the Acropolis 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
The Acropolis of Athens
illustrated picturesquely and architecturally in photography
by William J. Stillman
printed by Autotype Company
London : F.S. Ellis, 1870
About a year ago we saw a group of photographs here that dated from the 1840s. These were made by the French artist-adventurer Girault de Prangey and are generally credited as the earliest photographs to depict the Acropolis. Yesterday's images by Dimitrios Constantin from the 1860s were the first made by a Greek (perhaps). Today's are the work of an enterprising Anglo working for an enterprising publisher in 1870. William J. Stillman's compositions are surely the starkest of the three. And he had the best weather.
William J. Stillman Eastern Façade of the Temple of Victory 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Western Façade of the Parthenon 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Interior of the Parthenon facing east 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Above the Parthenon facing east 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Eastern portico of the Parthenon 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Eastern Façade of the Parthenon 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman View of the Acropolis facing west 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Gate of the Pandrosium 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Western flank of the Erectheum 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Caryatid Porch of the Erectheum 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
William J. Stillman Fragment of Parthenon Frieze 1870 carbon print, autotype Philadelphia Museum of Art |
These published photographic prints from 1870 are now in the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.