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Two heads of Seraphs

Louise Laffon

1864

photographic

From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum

Impressionism Realism Late 19th Century Putto

Dominant colour

Two heads of Seraphs is a 1864 photographic by Louise Laffon, a Impressionism work, depicting Putto, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.

Who painted this?: Louise Laffon
When & what style?: 1864 · Impressionism
Where can I see it?: Victoria and Albert Museum

About this work

Louise Laffon made a photograph in 1863–64 called Two Heads of Seraphs. It shows putto, little angel children, in calm poses. Photographers were new at this time. Laffon was a French photographer who worked when the Victoria and Albert Museum first collected photos. The museum wanted art students to use photographs as study tools. Look up the museum itself next.

The story of this work

Overview

A mounted sepia photograph depicts a terra cotta bas-relief sculpture featuring two seraph heads, produced by Louise Laffon in 1864. The image is part of a series of 100 albumen prints documenting objects from the Campana Collection at the Musée Napoléon III, later acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum in four separate purchases totaling 500 works. Laffon’s photographs were issued with gilded mounts bearing the gender-neutral stamp "L. Laffon" alongside her studio name, Photographie Lord Byron. The albumen print method and the relief’s classical subject reflect mid-19th-century museum…

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Louise Laffon

Louise Laffon (1828–1885), was a French photographer and painter. She was one of the first female professional photographers in France. She had a studio in Paris between 1859 and 1876.

See the richer artist page