Untitled (Semi-Circle of Children, Central Girl Dressed as an Angel Holding the Baby Jesus)

Andrés and Francisco Hernández

Date: c. 1910s
Medium: gelatin silver print
Dimensions: Image: 15 x 23.9 cm (5 7/8 x 9 7/16 in.)
Country / context: Costa Rica
Movement / tradition: Central and South American arts
Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art
Pathway: Central and South American arts ↗

FROM THE MUSEUM

The Foto Imperio photography studio was run by Andrés and Francisco Hernández in San José, Costa Rica. The brothers also ran a bookstore and print shop, and Francisco was a successful cartoonist, too. Here they artfully arranged 35 children to create a group portrait commemorating a religious event—perhaps a Christmas pageant? The girl dressed as an angel holds a baby, while the girl and boy at her feet seem posed as if for a wedding portrait.

Collection text · The Cleveland Museum of Art · CC0

A MOMENT TO LOOK

Start with what you can see: shapes, surface, colour and scale. How might the listed materials affect the way this object was made and experienced?

Looking prompt · an invitation to observe, not a historical interpretation.

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