Detail van het retabel van het hoofdaltaar van de kathedraal, Sevilla, Spanje c. 1857 - 1890

This is a photograph by Juan Laurent, taken sometime in the mid-19th century, depicting a detail of the main altarpiece in the Cathedral of Seville. Laurent, a Frenchman working in Spain, captured the ornate, gothic carvings of the retablo, a devotional artwork loaded with Christian iconography. Consider the role of photography at this time. It was revolutionary, offering a new, supposedly objective way of documenting the world. However, photography was also a tool of colonialism, used to categorize and control populations. In this context, Laurent’s photograph captures a powerful symbol of Spanish identity and Catholic faith, but does so through the lens of a foreign, and rapidly modernizing gaze. It is impossible to ignore the way that religious spaces and objects are so often tied to identity, power and cultural heritage. What does it mean to document a place of worship, a locus of faith, through the detached, mechanical eye of the camera? This photograph invites us to reflect on the complex relationships between art, identity, and representation.