Cathedral, Santiago, Spain, Double Doorway of South Transept
- Object:
Photograph
- Place of origin:
Santiago (photographed)
- Date:
1867 (photographed)
- Artist/Maker:
Thompson, Charles Thurston, born 1816 - died 1868 (photographer)
- Materials and Techniques:
albumen print
- Museum number:
58281
- Gallery location:
Prints & Drawings Study Room, room 512M, case MX5, shelf XM, box 85
Charles Thurston Thompson was the V&A's first Official Museum Photographer, in charge of the Museum's photographic operations from 1856 until his death in 1868. In addition to photographing museum objects and objects on loan, he also photographed great works of art and architecture on dedicated photographic campaigns abroad.
There are four bound copies of Thurston Thompson's series of photographs of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella in Spain in the V&A collection and National Art Library. The series was published shortly after his death by the Arundel Society, sanctioned by the Science and Art Department, (under the authority of which the V&A was originally established). Available to artists, amateurs and collectors through a subscription service, these volumes were also acquired by the Science and Art Department for the National Art Library and for use by national schools of art and design.
In addition to the four bound albums are loose plates, including many images not in the bound volumes. The various stamps and presentation formats demonstrate the multiple ways photographs circulated not only throughout the museum, but to the larger community of scholars, artists and connoisseurs.
