La Chasse Pediment Study - Édouard Denis Baldus

A precise salted paper print by Édouard Denis Baldus documenting a plaster pediment sculpture titled La Chasse, created for the Palais du Louvre.

This salted paper print by Édouard Denis Baldus captures a plaster model for a pediment sculpture titled La Chasse, created by the sculptor François Théophile Murgey. The work was produced as part of the extensive documentation of the Palais du Louvre during the mid-nineteenth century, a period when the French state commissioned photographers to record the architectural and decorative progress of the building.

Baldus, a master of the calotype and salted paper processes, provides a clinical, objective view of the sculptural relief. The composition is strictly triangular, mirroring the architectural form of a pediment. The central figure, representing the hunt, is flanked by hounds and wild game, rendered with the precise modelling characteristic of academic sculpture of the era. The numbers visible on the surface of the plaster indicate the systematic approach taken during the cataloguing of these decorative elements.

The print exhibits the soft, matte texture typical of the salted paper process, which allows for a subtle range of sepia tones. By isolating the sculpture against a stark, empty background, Baldus removes the context of the building, allowing the viewer to focus entirely on the form and composition of the relief itself. This image functions as both a record of sculptural craft and a specimen of early architectural photography, demonstrating the technical rigour required to document large-scale public works. The clarity of the light and the balanced tonal range reflect the high standards of the French photographic tradition during the Second Empire.