Plate Number 146. Descending stairs and turning, a water jar on left shoulder 1887

Eadweard Muybridge's "Plate Number 146. Descending stairs and turning, a water jar on left shoulder" (1887) is a groundbreaking example of photographic motion study. It captures a woman, posed as a classical figure, descending a set of stairs while carrying a water jar. The 24 individual frames, arranged in three rows of eight, illustrate the fluid yet precise movements of the human body in motion, pioneering the development of cinema and influencing artists like Marcel Duchamp and the Futurists. Muybridge’s innovative use of sequential photography transformed our understanding of movement and its representation in art.