Artwork Page for Top of the Wall from Anting Gate, Pekin, taken possession by English and French Troops, October 21

Details / Information for Top of the Wall from Anting Gate, Pekin, taken possession by English and French Troops, October 21

Top of the Wall from Anting Gate, Pekin, taken possession by English and French Troops, October 21

Album von China

1860
photographer

Felice A. Beato

(British, 1832–1909)
Culture
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)
Medium
albumen print
Measurements
Image: 24.5 x 29 cm (9 5/8 x 11 7/16 in.); Mount: 36.9 x 41.8 cm (14 1/2 x 16 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
John L. Severance Fund 2026.59
Public Domain
You can copy, modify, and distribute this work, all without asking permission. Learn more about CMA's Open Access Initiative.
Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

Felice Beato was the first photographer to show the human cost of war: the corpses of fallen soldiers.

Description

Beato was invited in February 1860 to travel to China to accompany British troops and photograph the concluding events of the Second Opium War. The works in this album are the earliest images that document the progress of a military campaign through a sequence of dated and related photographs. Part of that story, for Beato, were the corpses of the Chinese soldiers who had been killed by European troops. The album also contains the first photographs of Beijing.
A horizontally oriented sepia albumen print depicts a wide stone wall receding from the foreground toward the left horizon. Five tall, vertical poles with circular rings stand in a row on square bases along the wall’s center, flanked by small tents. A crenellated edge borders the right side, while tiled rooftops cluster below on the left. The scene is cast in warm, muted tones under a pale, hazy sky.

Top of the Wall from Anting Gate, Pekin, taken possession by English and French Troops, October 21

1860

Felice A. Beato

(British, 1832–1909)
China, Qing dynasty (1644-1911)

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