Untitled (Semi-Circle of Children, Central Girl Dressed as an Angel Holding the Baby Jesus) (c. 1910s): Art, History and Details

Untitled (Semi-Circle of Children, Central Girl Dressed as an Angel Holding the Baby Jesus) (c. 1910s) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Andrés and Francisco Hernández (Costa Rican, active c. 1910s–30s).

The work and its context

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

The Foto Imperio photography studio was run by Andrés and Francisco Hernández in San José, Costa Rica. The brothers also ran a bookstore and print shop, and Francisco was a successful cartoonist, too. Here they artfully arranged 35 children to create a group portrait commemorating a religious event—perhaps a Christmas pageant? The girl dressed as an angel holds a baby, while the girl and boy at her feet seem posed as if for a wedding portrait.

Object facts

• Title: Untitled (Semi-Circle of Children, Central Girl Dressed as an Angel Holding the Baby Jesus)
• Date: c. 1910s
• Creator attribution: Andrés and Francisco Hernández (Costa Rican, active c. 1910s–30s)
• Culture: Costa Rica
• Type: Photograph
• Technique: gelatin silver print
• Dimensions: Image: 15 x 23.9 cm (5 7/8 x 9 7/16 in.)
• Collection: PH - Misc. 20th Century
• Department: Photography
• Accession number: 2022.342

A detail from the museum

Portraits are the bread-and-butter business of most photography studios.

Collection credit

Gift of Michael F. Resch

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.