Magnificent, incredibly rare print of Pompeii by one of Gustave Le Gray's greatest students. Evidently printed by Le Gray himself.

One of Le Dien and Le Gray's greatest images and one of their greatest prints. Incredibly rare. Finest known print.

Mounted on card, numbered 12 and inscribed beneath the image with the title. Mount: 13 13/16 in. 19 3/16 in. (35.1 48.8 cm). Also stamped "Le Dien and Gustave Le Gray" on the image, lower right.

This house was discovered in 1829-30 and again excavated in 1836.

Le Dien's photographs of Italy, printed by Gustave Le Gray, reveal not just remarkable compositions and incredible technical virtuosity but also an extraordinary range of colours. Early photography may not be in colour, but rarely is it black and white, rather it is monochrome. In the case of Le Dien the range of colours is striking and ranges from blue and magenta to green.

Taken at a moment just prior to Pompeii's development as a major tourist sight, Le Dien's photographs have a quiet poetry achieved, in large part, by the disquieting lack of inhabitants. In contrast, the numerous, often banal, nineteenth century prints, watercolours

and paintings of Pompeii available for cultured travellers on their Grand Tour, frequently include these visitors as part of their subject matter.

Firmin-Eugène Le Dien and Gustave Le Gray

1817-1865 and 1820-1884

Pompeï, Maison de
Méléagre, 1853 Salt print from a waxed paper negative, mounted
to the original album leaf.

Image/sheet: 24.1 x 33 cm (91/ 2 x 127/ 8 in.) Mount: 35 x 49 cm (133/4 x 191/4 in.)

Numbered ‘12’ in the negative; ‘LE DIEN ET GUSTAVE LE GRAY’
credit stamp on the recto;
titled ‘Pompeï Maison
de Méléagre’ in French and numbered ‘14’ in unidentified hands in pencil
on the mount.

This work is the only known print
of this image to date and is likely unique. The Metropolitan Museum of Art
holds another salt print of Pompeii,
originating from the same album.

The present photograph of Pompeii’s House
of Meleagre was taken by Firmin-Eugène Le Dien, a student of Le Gray, in 1853 during his tour of southern Italy with painters
Léon Gérard and Alexandre de Vonne. Le Dien’s works from this trip have been divided into four series: Rome, the countryside, Pompeii and Naples.
Upon his return
to Paris in the autumn
of 1853, it is likely
that Le Dien presented his paper negatives to Le Gray who at the time was attempting to commercialise his studio. In the 2002
exhibition catalogue Gustave Le Gray:
1820-1884, Sylvie Aubenas posits that the ‘LE DIEN ET GUSTAVE LE GRAY’ stamp, as seen on the
current print, and its variants can be read as the student (Le Dien) and his teacher

(Le Gray), and that while we cannot be sure of the conditions of this partnership, the joint credit
stamp likely implies
both an artistic
and commercial collaboration.

In this photograph, the composition with a central band of columns cutting across the image is striking. This
exceptionally rich print was originally
in an album – containing 57 views of Italy by Le Dien and Le Gray – compiled by W. H. Guebhard, another
student of Le Gray. In addition
to the ‘LE DIEN ET GUSTAVE LE GRAY’ credit stamp, the print
is numbered ‘12’ in the negative. The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds
two salt prints, one of which is another view of Pompeii, originating from the same album.