The Shadow of the Cross
Artist
Julia Margaret Cameron
(English, born India, 1815 - 1879)
Date1865
MediumAlbumen print
DimensionsImage and sheet: 10 7/8 × 14 7/16 inches (27.62 × 36.67 cm)
Mount: 14 15/16 × 17 13/16 inches (37.94 × 45.24 cm)
Mount: 14 15/16 × 17 13/16 inches (37.94 × 45.24 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2010.30.5
SignedSigned on mount recto, lower right, in black pen: "Julia Margaret Cameron"
InscribedOn mount recto, lower left, in black pen: "From Life, August 1865";
On mount recto, bottom, in pencil: "The Shadow of the Cross";
On mount recto, lower left corner, in pencil: "No. 1";
On mount recto, bottom, blindstamp: "Registered Photograph / London / Sold by Messrs Colnaghi / 14 Pall Mall East".
Markingsnone
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a baby sleeping/reclining in lower foreground with small cross in hand; a woman is leaning over the child with her head directly above the arm holding the cross.Gallery LabelAn expression of weary grief weighs on the face of the Virgin Mary as she looks upon a sleeping Christ grasping a small cross. The exhaustion may be relatable to anyone caring for a young child, but the angst is unique to Mary, who contemplates her son’s eventual sacrifice. Part religious study, part family portrait, this photograph features Julia Margaret Cameron’s grandson Archibald and her maid, Mary Hillier. Cameron was a deeply spiritual woman and made many staged photographs of Christian subjects that were inspired by Renaissance painters such as Raphael, Donatello, and Leonardo da Vinci.
Purchased from Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, NY by The Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2010;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2010.
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2010.
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