[Place Saint-Médard]

1898–1900

Medium

Albumen silver print

Dimensions

21.9 × 18.1 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-360346

> Besides the street views for which he is famous, Eugène Atget made numerous photographs of Parisian interiors, including systematic documentation of churches—chapel by chapel, altar by altar. There are also studies of rooms in residences belonging to a cross section of the middle class and several images of staircases in mansions built by the aristocracy. This graceful flight of stairs sweeps downward from darkness into the entrance hall of an elegant house, constructed in 1630. The light comes from the windows and door next to which Atget placed his camera. By the time that he photographed the staircase, the building was visibly run down, the plaster and stonework stained and sooty, the paving tiles scuffed and dirty, and the hall disfigured by an ugly furnace. However, the wrought iron of the railing that spirals upward in zestful curlicues retains its loveliness. It is not possible to tell whether the opening in the alcove under the steps leads to a broom closet or a basement. > > On the back of the photograph Atget wrote the word *l'empoisonneuse*, "a woman who poisons," which reveals that the historical associations of the house mattered to him. The poisoner was the infamo…