Kremlin, photograph
Fenton, Roger (Roger Fenton was one of the founders of the Photographic Society. Even though he was a brilliant and successful photographer, he was a photographer for just twelve years. In 1852 he made what are believed to be the first photographs of Russia and the Kremlin. He was however, most famous for his photographs of the Crimea in 1855 which were the first large-scale photographic documentation of war.
In 1852, Fenton (who had only taken up photography a few months earlier) travelled to Russia with the engineer Charles Vignoles who was constructing a bridge across the Dnieper River near Kiev for Czar Nicholas I. Fenton made views of Moscow and St. Petersburg, capturing the distinct architectural character of each city. These are believed to be the first photographs of Moscow and the Kremlin.)
Albumen print (from collodion glass negative) mounted on card. View of River, with part of Kremlin to left, and St. Basils Cathedral to right. Left hand print of a stereoscopic pair (80.96I/196)
This pair of stereoscopic views were taken from the Moskva River. It shows the wall of the Kremlin and the Beklemishevsky Tower, built in 1487 by Marco Ruffo, in the foreground. It was from the Kremlin fortress that the city of Moscow developed. To the right can be seen Red Square and the Cathedral of the Virgin of the Intercession ‘by the moat’ or, as it is more commonly known St Basil’s cathedral (Sobor Vasiliya Blazhennovo) which was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible in 1552 and built in 1555-60.
(Source: 'Pastures Green and Dark Satanic Mills: The British Passion for Landscape', 2015)
Creation/Production
Date: 1852
Acquisition
Donation, 11/2/1980
Measurements
mount
(mm): 232
mount
(mm): 292
mount
(mm): 174
mount
(mm): 213
Techniques
albumen print
photograph
