Bas-reliëf aan de kerk van Saint-Gilles-du-Gard 1852

This is Charles Nègre’s photograph of the bas-relief at the church of Saint-Gilles-du-Gard. Nègre was part of a generation of artists in France who saw photography as a tool for documenting historical monuments, a movement deeply entwined with burgeoning national identities and historical preservation. Saint-Gilles-du-Gard, with its Romanesque sculptures, stood as a testament to France's medieval past. But beyond mere documentation, Nègre’s work taps into something deeper. Look at how the play of light and shadow across the carvings gives them a palpable sense of depth and texture. The figures of the animals, caught in moments of predation and peace, evoke a world both savage and sacred. In photographing these sculptures, Nègre wasn’t just recording history. He was participating in a broader cultural project of defining what it meant to be French, of forging a connection to a past that was both glorious and complex. The emotional weight of history, the human desire to preserve and understand our place in time—it’s all there.