About this artwork
One of Hill and Adamson's most effective portraits is that of the sculptor Sir John Steell, who is best known for his statue of Sir Walter Scott for the Scott Monument in Edinburgh. This portrait of Steell is remarkable for its strength and simplicity and could serve as a model of Romantic practice in photography. The body of the sculptor appears as a dark, undefined shape. His right hand, indicated by an edge of white cuff, is sunk in his coat, suggesting depth. His head and other hand are supported on an off-centre diagonal. The vague, mottled background reinforces the 'romantic' effect. This image is one of several calotype prints from the same negative and was gifted by the Edinburgh Photographic Society.
Updated before 2020
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artists:
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title:Sir John Steell, 1804 - 1891. Sculptor
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date created:About 1845
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materials:Salted paper print
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measurements:19.70 x 14.50 cm
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object type:
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credit line:Edinburgh Photographic Society Collection, gifted 1987
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accession number:PGP EPS 89
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David Octavius Hill
David Octavius Hill
A painter and a lithographer by training, David Octavius Hill is best remembered for the beauty of the calotypes he and Robert Adamson produced together. Hill was a sociable and kind-hearted man who did much to support the arts in Scotland and between 1830 and 1836 he was the unpaid Secretary of...