Metropolitan Museum of Art Purchase, Jennifer and Joseph Duke Gift and The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2000, Accession Number: 2000.292
Curatorial description
The deep shadows framing this doorway at Chartres create spatial depth and draw the viewer's gaze toward a tiny detail: a small lamp hanging in the center of the open doorway. Marville's keen ability to harness the play of light, especially against three-dimensional surfaces, made him a sought-after photographer of architecture and sculpture. This print was formerly in the collection of the sculptor Adolphe-Victor Geoffroy-Dechaume, who contributed to the restoration of Chartres in the 1850s and frequently hired Marville to photograph his work.
