Interieur van een zaal met sculpturen in het Palace of Fine Arts op de World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 1893

Charles Dudley Arnold made this photograph inside the Palace of Fine Arts at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. The photograph is of sculptures displayed in the Palace of Fine Arts. The sculptures are made of marble, a material chosen for its associations with classical art, permanence, and value. Marble is extracted from quarries through labor-intensive processes and then carved by skilled artisans. The choice of marble is a statement about the cultural value and authority of the artworks. Photography itself was becoming more established as a technology and an art form, changing how people saw the world. The photograph gives us a snapshot of a moment when art and industry met. By looking at the materials, processes, and social context of this photograph, we can better understand the world of art and craft at the end of the 19th century.