Production and Framing


Braun/Temple of Olympian Zeus, Athens
 
The panorama of the Athenian Acropolis, viewed through the columns of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, is a classic icon in the iconography of ruins. Early souvenir photography documented archaeological sites in accurate detail, while emphasizing the precarious state of the monuments. Taken in the 1860s, this image shows a more pristine Athens before the period of rapid urban development. In the shadow of the reerected columns of the temple, cafe tables and chairs accomodate local residents among the stones of their history.

More images of Greece are available from the Gary Edwards collection of 19th-century Photography of Ancient Greece.