Spiridione Gambardella

© National Portrait Gallery, London

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Spiridione Gambardella

attributed to Sir Anthony Coningham Sterling
salt print, circa 1852
3 3/8 in. x 2 7/8 in. (86 mm x 72 mm) oval
Purchased, 1981
Primary Collection
NPG P171(13)

Sitterback to top

  • Spiridione Gambardella (circa 1815-1886), Painter. Sitter in 2 portraits, Artist or producer associated with 3 portraits.

Artistback to top

Linked publicationsback to top

  • 100 Photographs, 2018, p. 19 Read entry

    During the new medium’s first decades, photographic emulsions were painfully slow, requiring exposures of several seconds, even under bright lighting conditions. This presented a particular challenge in portraiture, as it is difficult for sitters to remain still for such long periods of time. This photograph is all the more remarkable, then, as Sir Anthony Coningham Sterling (1805-71), or someone in his circle, seems to have captured the Italian painter Spiridione Gambardella (c.1815-86) unaware, as if discovered on the street, with an authentic facial expression. Although the pose was almost certainly staged, the natural appearance of the sitter is unprecedented in photographic history. This photograph was originally found in a portrait album of members of the family of the philosopher Thomas Carlyle, his wife Jane, and their friends. In the variant P171(14), Gambardella poses with his son, Dion (1849-86).

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Events of 1852back to top

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