Elizabeth Rigby, later Lady Eastlake (1809-1893) (c. 1844–1845): Art, History and Details

Elizabeth Rigby, later Lady Eastlake (1809-1893) (c. 1844–1845) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is David Octavius Hill (British, 1802–1870); Robert Adamson (British, 1821–1848).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

Among the earliest photographers to explore both the artistic and societal possibilities of the portrait were the painter David Octavius Hill and engineer Robert Adamson, partners for just three years before Adamson’s death. Elizabeth Rigby,seen here at age 35, went on to marry Sir Charles Eastlake and, in 1857, to write one of the first histories of photography as a fine art. James Nasmyth, an engineer who developed the steam hammer, holds a compass. Hill and Adamson often shot outdoors because bright sunlight allowed shorter exposure times. They subordinated the background in shadow and bathed the important details of the face and finery in areas of light.

Object facts

• Title: Elizabeth Rigby, later Lady Eastlake (1809-1893)
• Date: c. 1844–1845
• Creator attribution: David Octavius Hill (British, 1802–1870); Robert Adamson (British, 1821–1848)
• Culture: England, 19th century
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: salted paper print from calotype negative
• Dimensions: Image: 21.5 x 15.6 cm (8 7/16 x 6 1/8 in.); Matted: 45.7 x 35.6 cm (18 x 14 in.)
• Collection: PH - British 19th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 1987.16

Collection credit

Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• Turner, Evan H. "The Year in Review for 1987." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 75, no. 2 (1988): 30-71.
• Cleveland Museum of Art, and Tom E. Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. [Cleveland, OH]: The Museum, 1996.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.