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Place de l'Arc de Triomphe / [Place de l'Etoile, Paris]

Creator

French Photographer · 1813–1879

ArtistPrinterPublisher

Originally trained as a painter, engraver, and illustrator, Charles Marville became known as a landscape and architecture photographer. He traveled to Italy, Germany, and Algeria and used both paper and glass plate negatives. In the late 1850s the city of Paris commissioned Marville to document the ancient quarters of the city before encroaching urban modernization changed them forever. He photogr

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Date: about 1877
Medium: Albumen silver print
Culture: French
Department: Photographs
Institution: Getty Museum

Although Charles Marville began his photography career concentrating on religious sites and architecture, his attention soon turned to civic subjects, such as this monumental public space extending out from the Arc de Triomphe. When creating this image, Marville's intent was not to simply document a specific place or structure, but to illustrate the national glorification of France. On the left side of the image, relief sculptures looking over the vast space around the arch celebrate Napoléon Bonaparte's victorious military campaigns.

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