The Royal Stag
Medium
albumen print from wet collodion negative
Dimensions
image: 18.7 × 23.9 cm · matted: 40.6 × 50.8 cm
Classification
Photograph
Department
Photography
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
John L. Severance Fund
Accession Number
1992.333
Tags
About this artwork
One of the earliest photographs in this exhibition, James Valentine’s Royal Stag possesses a rare spontaneity, both for photographs of this period and for still-life images in general. In photographing a royal stag (one with antlers of twelve or more branches), Valentine gave the animal the appearance of one that had just fallen in the bright light of midday. Because the technology of the day required a nearby darkroom where the exposed negative plate could be processed immediately, it is likely...