Photochrom image of the central stair hall in the Library of Congress.
This public domain photo is from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Detroit Publishing Company Collection.
This is a small image, at approximately 5×6″ at 72 ppi. It captures the central stair hall at the Library of Congress. The space is notable for the pageantry of ornate molding and frescoed ceilings. Some portions of the image are slightly out of focus, which, in this instance, creates an illustrated effect.
This stock image was shot in photochrom, a technique dating back to the 1880s and employed by the several US firms during the early twentieth century. It required the developer to employ a series of toxic chemicals to the print while rubbing the images with tint-bearing stones. The final images were often quite striking.
Most photographs from the Detroit Publishing Company Collection were published prior to 1920, when the firm ended business operations. These images reside in the public domain due to the early publication date. The collection has been passed between libraries and historical societies many times in the subsequent years. It seems reasonable to assume that the intention with each of these transfers was to make the collection more available to the public. For these reasons we are believe that images in the Detroit Publishing Company Collection reside in the public domain.
427 kilobyte TIFF. Hosted at the Library of Congress.
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03.20.10
This image depicts the central stair hall at the Library of Congress, showcasing its grand features. In this view we see the intricately tiled floor, carved staircases, huge arches and painted ceilings. You can see the finely detailed masonry, with arched doorways and carvings on every white wall. There are statues throughout the room holding lights high above their heads. Each floor also boasts artful paintings across the arched ceilings, leading up to the very top of the image where we can see the recessed coved ceiling with architectural moldings and breathtaking painted scenes. The whole image is reminiscent of an era gone by, and seems to transport one back in time. It’s easy to imagine walking up those elegant stairs, gliding a gloved hand over the banister to overlook the people gathered below. The colors in the image have been captured expertly, with the true colors apparent while at the same time cast in a warm aged glow appropriate for such a building. The angle of the photograph is also complementary to the subject. With so many floors and architectural details to capture, the angle is so important, and this one manages to take one from floor to ceiling and across two stories without seeming the slightest bit awkward. The artfulness of this image is every bit as graceful as the subject seen within.
03.27.10
The picture looks like a painting. It has a ground floor and first floor. It looks like a traditional building. In the center of the hall, there is a statue place with its hand showing upwards and some light is present on the hand. The upper face of the building is pink in color which is designed in form of squares and painting of yellow flowers is present in it. In the top of the first the floor it is painted in the form of arcs with light blue and orange colors. There are several rooms present in the building. In order to enter into the first floor we need step some steps and turn right and then we have to step some more steps and ten we enter into the first floor. There is space outside the rooms and there are several walls present so that we can see the ground floor from the first floor. There is big carpet which is spread over the ground floor and it is red in color with a design of squares on it. First floor contains more number of rooms than the ground floor. In ground floor there are rooms on the right side