![Caltagirone: Albergo diPoveri [sic] (formerly church of Santa Maria di Gesu). top image](https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006BH4769/full/735,/0/default.jpg)
Caltagirone: Albergo diPoveri [sic] (formerly church of Santa Maria di Gesu).
Photograph
ca. 1937 (photographed)
ca. 1937 (photographed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Ella Briggs (b. Baumfeld, Vienna, 1880, died London, 1977) initially worked internationally as an interior designer before graduating as an architect from the University of Munich in 1920. She designed housing for the Western Baugesellschaft in Vienna from 1920-36, after which she was forced to emigrate to England. She travelled twice to Sicily in the early 1930s to take photographs of the vernacular architecture there, and offered her prints to the V&A for the sum of £14 and 14 Shillings. This image is underpinned by an awareness of structure and composition. The church door is framed at a steep angle, and sharp lines meet the delicate shadow of the tree artistically. Briggs plays with light and shade, natural and human architecture.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Titles |
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| Materials and techniques | Gelatin-silver print |
| Brief description | 20thC Caltagirone: Albergo diPoveri [sic] (formerly church of Santa Maria di Gesu). Photograph by Ella Briggs, ca. 1937. |
| Physical description | Black and white photograph of a church doorway with the shadow of a tree at an angle. Mounted on green museum card. |
| Dimensions |
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| Object history | Ella Briggs travelled twice to Sicily in the early 1930s to take photographs of the vernacular architecture there, and offered her prints to the V&A for the sum of £14 and 14 Shillings. It is possible that Briggs was hoping to earn some money and realised that Museums were interested in topographical photographs for their collection. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Place depicted | |
| Summary | Ella Briggs (b. Baumfeld, Vienna, 1880, died London, 1977) initially worked internationally as an interior designer before graduating as an architect from the University of Munich in 1920. She designed housing for the Western Baugesellschaft in Vienna from 1920-36, after which she was forced to emigrate to England. She travelled twice to Sicily in the early 1930s to take photographs of the vernacular architecture there, and offered her prints to the V&A for the sum of £14 and 14 Shillings. This image is underpinned by an awareness of structure and composition. The church door is framed at a steep angle, and sharp lines meet the delicate shadow of the tree artistically. Briggs plays with light and shade, natural and human architecture. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | 192-1937 |
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| Record created | August 22, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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