Sunday, February 18, 2018

Nineteenth-Century Photographs of the Classical World

attributed to Altobelli & Molin
Ruins of the Colosseum, Rome
ca. 1865-75
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

attributed to Altobelli & Molin
Ruins of the Temple of Saturn in the Roman Forum
ca. 1857-75
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Seth Compton

When I died, the circulating library
Which I built up for Spoon River,
And managed for the good of inquiring minds,
Was sold at auction on the public square,
As if to destroy the last vestige
Of my memory and influence.
For those of you who could not see the virtue
Of knowing Volney's "Ruins" as well as Butler's "Analogy"
And "Faust" as well as "Evangeline,"
Were really the power in the village,
And often you asked me,
"What is the use of knowing the evil in the world?"
I am out of your way now, Spoon River,
Choose your own good and call it good.
For I could never make you see
That no one knows what is good
Who knows not what is evil;
And no one knows what is true
Who knows not what is false.

– Edgar Lee Masters (1915)

Sophus Williams
Ancient statue called Diana of Versailles, now at the Louvre
1882
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Sophus Williams
German copy of ancient statue group called The Farnese Bull, now in Naples
1877
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Stephen Thompson
Head of Apollo
ca. 1850-80
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Stephen Thompson
Bust of Homer in the British Museum
ca. 1850-80
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

attributed to Stephen Thompson
Statue of Venus in the British Museum
ca. 1860-70
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

attributed to W.A. Mansell
Statue of Venus
ca. 1850-80
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Warren W. Vernon
Temple of Vesta, Rome
ca. 1860-70
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Giacomo Brogi
Arch of Constantine, Rome
ca. 1856-81
albumen silver print
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Adolphe Braun
Bust of Pericles in the Vatican Museum, Rome
ca. 1880-1900
carbon print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Anonymous Dutch photographer
Bronze head of Satyr, National Museum, Athens 
ca. 1895-1915
collotype
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Anonymous photographer
Copy of the Venus de Milo
ca. 1870-90
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Anonymous French photographer
Venus de Milo in the Louvre
ca. 1870-90
albumen print
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam