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Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level F , Case X, Shelf 759, Box GI

Toledo, Puerta del Sol

Photograph
1850s (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Mounted sepia-coloured photograph of a view of a rectangular gateway with a semicircular top. The horseshoe arch entry is flanked by two towers. Remains of a Paleochristian sarcophagus from the 4th century that lie in the middle of the blind arches has a relief with the cathedral's emblem emblazoned upon it, which represents the placing of San Idelfonso's cassock under the Sun and the Moon which has given the doorway its actual name.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleToledo, Puerta del Sol (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print from wet collodion negative
Brief description
Photograph by Charles Clifford, 'Toledo, Puerta del Sol', albumen print, ca. 1850s
Physical description
Mounted sepia-coloured photograph of a view of a rectangular gateway with a semicircular top. The horseshoe arch entry is flanked by two towers. Remains of a Paleochristian sarcophagus from the 4th century that lie in the middle of the blind arches has a relief with the cathedral's emblem emblazoned upon it, which represents the placing of San Idelfonso's cassock under the Sun and the Moon which has given the doorway its actual name.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 41.9cm
  • Image width: 31.9cm
  • Mount height: 51.2cm
  • Mount width: 37.9cm
Marks and inscriptions
  • C. CLIFFORD Photo of H M (Embossed stamp with a crown on recto at the bottom centre)
  • BRITISH 1948 2 14 270 MUSEUM (Stamp on verso)
Credit line
Transferred from the British Museum
Object history
This photograph was acquired by the British Museum in 1857 than transferred in 2000 as plan to rationalise the collection and house objects at the V&A where greater expertise and national collections of particular media reside.
Historical context
Charles Clifford is considered among the finest photographers in nineteenth-century Spain, where he spent most of his career. Settling in Madrid in the early 1850s, Clifford became court photographer to Isabella II and accompanied the Queen on a number of royal tours within the country.
Clifford specialised in the photography of architectural subjects and industrial projects and his work is particularly notable for his technical mastery of the large format view. His unusual treatment of architectural spaces has made him one of the most famous 19th century photographers in Spain. He belonged to both the Sociéte Française de Photographie and the Architectural Photographic Association.
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Collection
Accession number
E.1259-2000

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Record createdOctober 4, 2006
Record URL
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