Montmajour 1861 - 1864

Edouard Baldus made this photograph of Montmajour, a Benedictine monastery in France, using a Calotype negative, around the 1850s. Baldus documented France at a time when its government was investing in the restoration of medieval monuments as symbols of national identity, and when photography was being used to record historical sites. His image emphasizes the ruinous condition of Montmajour, with crumbling walls and a landscape overtaken by vegetation. The play of light and shadow across the stone gives the scene a romantic quality, reminiscent of paintings by earlier landscape artists. This aestheticization, even celebration, of decay was very much in keeping with the 19th-century notion of the sublime. To better understand Baldus's work, historians can look at publications about architectural preservation in France, photographic journals, and government records of restoration projects. Considering such contexts helps us understand how Baldus’s image both reflected and shaped the cultural values of his time.