Church of Villeneuve le Comte, Seine-et-Marne (Eglise de Villeneuve le Comte, Seine-et-Marne)
1862
Medium
Albumen print
Dimensions
22.6 × 37 cm (8 15/16 × 14 5/8 in.)
Classification
photograph
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
181925
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Charles Marville worked as a painter and illustrator until he took up photography in 1850, contributing images to commercially published photo albums, reproducing works of art in the Louvre, and documenting the decorations for imperial events. By 1862 his carefully composed images had earned him the designation “Photographer of the City of Paris,” as well as a commission to document Baron Haussmann’s modernization of the city. Marville also recorded the restoration of many of the great French ca...
About the Artist
Charles Marville · 1813–1879
**Charles Marville**, born Charles François Bossu on July 17, 1813, in Paris, adopted his professional pseudonym around 1832 to avoid the stigma of "bossu," meaning hunchback in French. Trained as a painter, engraver, and illustrator, he spent nearly two decades producing woodblock illustrations for books and magazines before embracing photography around 1850. His transition coincided with the med...