Doheny Memorial Library, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0189 Public Domain. Release under the CC BY Attribution license--http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/--Credit both “University of Southern California. Libraries” and “California Historical Society” as the source. Digitally reproduced by the USC Digital Library; From the California Historical Society Collection at the University of Southern California Send requests to address or e-mail given USC Libraries Special Collections specol@usc.edu
Description
Photograph of an etching of Mission Carmel (San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo) by Henry Chapman Ford, ca.1884. The three-story mission church features two Moorish-style domes and an arched gable. Smaller buildings, including an arcade, are attached to the main building. "Henry C. Ford was best known for his paintings of the entire chain of twenty-one California missions. He was born in Livonia, New York in 1828, but he pursued his studies in Paris and Florence during the late 1850's. He was a Civil War illustrator and veteran, and as soon as he was discharged from service, he settled in Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago, Ford became an accomplished landscapist, and was one of the founders of the Chicago Academy of Design in 1873. The studio that Ford kept in Chicago burned down in 1871. Due to his failing health, Ford moved to a milder climate, settling in Santa Barbara, California. In the summers of 1880 and 1881, he traveled by horse and buggy to each mission site south of Santa Barbara. On the mission grounds, Ford made pencil drawings and painted sketches. He was the first artist to make a set of mission images in two media, oil and etching. He went to New York to turn his renditions into etchings, which were inexpensive and could be easily duplicated. In 1893, he exhibited his mission etchings at the Chicago World's Fair. Later in his life, Ford taught and continued to paint from his Santa Barbara home. He died in 1894, leaving behind the important historical contribution of his California mission paintings." -- unknown author. "The stone church at Carmel is different from all others in the chain, in that the walls taper inward forming a catenary arch, rather than the usual flat ceiling. On the exterior, the unique bell tower, with its outside stairway, shows definite Moorish influence. The great church was four years in the building, being dedicated in 1797. The Carmel Mission was Father Serra's (founder) favorite, and he lies buried under the altar in his beautiful church, the second founded in the California chain. On its splendid site at the mouth of the Carmel Valley and overlooking the sea, the old mission has survived years of neglect and is now one of the outstanding historic landmarks in California. Much of the stateliness of its early days has been recaptured in the careful restoration of the buildings, while the beauty of its gardens is unsurpassed. The Moorish influence in the architecture of the church is unique." -- unknown author.
Type
image
Format
3 photographs : glass photonegatives, photoprint, b&w 21 x 26 cm. glass plate negatives photographic prints photographs art
Carmel Mission Missions--Mission Carmel (San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo) Mission Carmel--San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo Missions, Spanish Religious facilities
Time Period
circa 1884
Place
California Monterey USA
Source
1-127-27 [Microfiche number] 5733 [Accession number] CHS-5733 [Call number] California Historical Society [Contributing entity]
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