Perspective, east front, looking south – Antique Print
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: Perspective, east front, looking south, preserved in this historic photograph. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
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Perspective, east front, looking south
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Few views capture the Capitol's east front as a working site quite like this one, which looks south while derricks and hoisting gear stand over the stone. The print is dated October 26, 1859, and is a salted paper print from the album of Benjamin Brown French, who oversaw federal building projects in Washington at the time. In the 1850s the Capitol was being enlarged with new north and south wings and a cast-iron dome, so the lifting equipment marks a stage of that long expansion. Salted paper, an early photographic process, gives the image its soft tonal range.
| Created / published | 1859 October 26. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 photographic print : salted paper ; 26 x 36 cm. |
| Notes | In album: Benjamin Brown French Photographs |
| Subjects | United States Capitol (Washington, D.C.)--1850-1860. Construction--Washington (D.C.)--1850-1860. Hoisting machinery--Washington (D.C.)--1850-1860. |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,148 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-158040 |
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