Amiens, portail
Eugène Atget
French, 1857–1927
1921
An albumen silver print by Eugène Atget that closely records a series of medieval stone reliefs on the portal of Amiens Cathedral, made to document and preserve the carved narrative details.
The image hits you with a grid of repeating quatrefoil frames filled with tiny, worn figures—saints, scenes and symbolic motifs—rendered in warm sepia where crisp shadows and soft highlights reveal tool marks and the weathered texture of the stone.
Atget’s photograph exemplifies early documentary photography that used the camera to rescue and study fragile historical craft, supplying images that aided conservation, scholarship, and later artists’ reuse of vernacular and archival imagery.
Medium
Albumen silver print
Dimensions
Approx. 7 1/16 × 8 9/16" (18 × 21.8 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Abbott-Levy Collection. Acquired through the generosity of Shirley C. Burden, and Family of Man Fund
Accession
1.1969.3156
Palette
Exhibitions