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Tombeau de Lazare à Bethany—Tomb of Lazarus at Bethany

Felix Bonfils

Artwork Details

Tombeau de Lazare à Bethany—Tomb of Lazarus at Bethany
circa 1867-1885
Felix Bonfils
albumen print on paper
10 15/16 in x 14 in (27.78 cm x 35.56 cm)
Gift of Margaret and Howard Bond
1994/2.32.2

Description

Subject Matter:

Seven adults and four children gather at the entrance to the Tomb of Lazarus, which appears merely as an open portal in a crudely assembled stone wall. One figure stands inside the threshold of the tomb almost in the very center of the composition, his/her face shrouded as though imitating the resurrected figure of Lazarus from the New Testament. The rest of the figures line either side of the entrance; no gaze matches the camera save for that of a child seated on the thick stone lintel of the doorframe. Sunlight washes out much detail in the ground and figures’ robes, and the light-colored garments of the children almost blends into the stone of the wall behind them. This image is one of hundreds of photographs made throughout Bonfils' career which purport to document various landscapes, cityscapes, and people of the eastern Mediterranean. 

Physical Description:

In this photograph, eleven figures—seven adults and three children—stand and sit near a portal set into a stone wall. 

Usage Rights:

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