Principal Doorway of the Carthusian Monastery, Burgos

Charles Clifford

1853 · Albumen silver print from paper negative · Photographs

At the Carthusian monastery in Burgos, Clifford apparently had the treasured seventeenth-century painted wood statue of the order's founder, Saint Bruno, moved from its usual place in a small lateral chapel to the front steps, where he had sufficient light and space to photograph it properly. Clifford's theatrical staging, the lifelike quality of the sculpture, and the harmonizing quality of photography yield an image that is easily mistaken for a miraculous vision of the saint himself.

Artist

Charles Clifford

Date

1853

Medium

Albumen silver print from paper negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Purchase, Alfred Stieglitz Society Gifts, 2005