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Daguerreotype of the Acropolis by Jean Baptiste Louis Gros




Baron Jean-Baptiste Louis Gros (French, 1793–1870)
View of the East Facade of the Propylaea on the Acropolis, Athens, May–June, 1850
Daguerreotype; 14.9 x 20 cm (5 7/8 x 7 7/8 in.)
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal


From the exhibition The Dawn of Photography: French Daguerreotypes, 1839–1855
September 23, 2003–January 4, 2004
Drawings, Prints, and Photographs Galleries, The Howard Gilman Gallery, 2nd floor
Metropolitan Museum, New York

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Comments

When I saw this plate at the French Daguerreotype show at the Met I was blown away. It was one of the most beautiful plates I had ever seen. There was no hand applied color yet the plate had appropriate coloration. The sky was blue but the ground appeared almost brownish instead of silver. I could not take my eyes off of it. This plate is incredible!

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