Nicolaas HennemanDutch, 1813–1898Westminster Abbey
May one see it?
Not receiving at present
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Cleveland, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
This rare image is the first photography by Henneman to enter the museum's collection. Its composition stresses the overall form as well as the details of the main entrance of London's Westminster Abbey. Instead of showing the entire building, Henneman selected a close vantage point to express his admiration of one of the greatest examples of early English architecture. Enlivened with strong light and shadow patterns, the sculptural and textural refinements of the building are clearly visible in this subtly toned photograph.
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Henneman became a key figure in the early history of photography through his association with the inventor of the calotype process, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877). Beginning about 1841, Henneman made some of photography's earliest images and was the master printer for Talbot and a number of his close associates. Talbot even chose this picture to be included with 23 of his own images in his first photographically illustrated book, The Pencil of Nature (1844 to 1846).
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1998.72
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
![[Westminster Abbey], Nicolaas Henneman, 1845](https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/1f1ba573-bfdf-4292-984b-1514ff21bd52/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)
![[La Résistance de 1814, by Antoine Étex, Arc de Triomphe], Nicolaas Henneman, 1845–1851](https://media.getty.edu/iiif/image/aa02e623-9c8f-47bf-8509-ac1d00f982a0/full/!1200,1200/0/default.jpg)
