Jerusalem, Valley of Josaphat, Tomb of St. James (Jérusalem, Vallée de Josaphat, Tombeau de Saint Jacques)

About this artwork

An amateur archaeologist trained as a painter, Auguste Salzmann learned photography in order to document archaeological finds in the field. He traveled to Jersualem in 1853, photographing holy sites for a year, until he was stricken by fever and forced to return home with some 150 paper negatives. The resulting prints were published in 1856 by the noted printer Louis-Désiré Blanquart-Evrard as a tourist album on the monuments of Jerusalem, available for purchase by the public; in the introductio...

Art Historical Context

In the mid-19th century, photographer Auguste Salzmann embarked on a pioneering expedition to Jerusalem, capturing its ancient holy sites with one of the era's earliest photographic processes.Jerusalem, Valley of Josaphat, Tomb of St. James* (1854, printed 1856 depicts the serene yet evocative Valley of Josaphat a biblical site linked to the prophesied gathering of nations for Judgment Day (Joel 3:2), and the Tomb of St. James the Less, a revered Christian pilgrimage spot nestled among olive trees and stone monuments. This salted paper print, measuring 23.4 × 32.2 cm, offers a hauntingly detailed view of layered history amid the city's sacred landscape. Salzmann's work exemplifies the salted paper print technique—a calotype variant invented by William Henry Fox Talbot—where a paper negative is salted with sodium chloride and sensitized with silver nitrate, yielding warm, matte tones rich in texture and subtle gradations. Printed two years after exposure, it reflects the slow, labor-intensive dawn of photography, which allowed unprecedented documentary fidelity to distant locales previously known only through paintings or engravings. Salzmann's images, part of a seminal 1856 album, bridged archaeology, faith, and emerging science, preserving Jerusalem's topography before 20th-century upheavals. Held in the Art Institute of Chicago's Photography and Media Department, this print invites visitors to ponder the interplay of light and shadow on enduring stone, evoking the spiritual weight of a place where prophets walked and pilgrims still pray.

About the Artist

Auguste Salzmann · 1824–1872

Born 15 april 1824. Salzmann travelled to Palestine in 1850 to 1851 as a draughtsman for a French expedition to the East. Salzmann returned to Paris, France in 1851 and learned photography which he used as an aid to his archaeological research. In 1853 Salzmann was commissioned by the Ministry of Public Instruction to visit Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the islands of the Archipelago to photograph ...