Accession Number
1994/2.32.2

Title
Tombeau de Lazare à Bethany—Tomb of Lazarus at Bethany

Artist(s)
Felix Bonfils

Artist Nationality
French (culture or style)

Object Creation Date
circa 1867-1885

Medium & Support
albumen print on paper

Dimensions
10 15/16 in x 14 in (27.78 cm x 35.56 cm)

Credit Line
Gift of Margaret and Howard Bond

Subject matter
Seven adults and four children gather at the entrance to the Tomb of Lazarus, which appears merely as an open portal in a crudely assembled stone wall. One figure stands inside the threshold of the tomb almost in the very center of the composition, his/her face shrouded as though imitating the resurrected figure of Lazarus from the New Testament. The rest of the figures line either side of the entrance; no gaze matches the camera save for that of a child seated on the thick stone lintel of the doorframe. Sunlight washes out much detail in the ground and figures’ robes, and the light-colored garments of the children almost blends into the stone of the wall behind them. This image is one of hundreds of photographs made throughout Bonfils' career which purport to document various landscapes, cityscapes, and people of the eastern Mediterranean. 

Physical Description
In this photograph, eleven figures—seven adults and three children—stand and sit near a portal set into a stone wall. 

Primary Object Classification
Photograph

Collection Area
Photography

Rights
If you are interested in using an image for a publication, please visit http://umma.umich.edu/request-image for more information and to fill out the online Image Rights and Reproductions Request Form.

Keywords
children (people by age group)
historic structures
men (male humans)
stonemasonry
tombs
travel photography
women (female humans)