Charles Soulier
Charles Soulier was a photographer active during the mid-nineteenth century, with documented work dating between 1855 and 1871. His surviving output reveals a focused specialization in architectural documentation and the detailed representation of classical sculpture and institutions, primarily centered in Rome and the Vatican.
Fifteen of Soulier’s photographs are currently represented in major museum collections, establishing the historical credibility of his archive. Key institutions holding his work include the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Soulier’s primary subjects were often located within the Vatican, capturing significant holdings such as the Statue de Tibere, Vatican and the iconic sculptural work, Rome: Groupe de Laocoon (Vatican). He also documented specific institutional locations, including the interior view Vatican: Galerie Nuovo Braccio and the exterior of the Bibliothèque du Vatican. While much of his known catalog focused on Italian antiquity, Soulier also produced urban landscape images, notably Buttes Chaumont, Paris.
As a result of their historical provenance and age, many Charles Soulier prints are now considered public domain, allowing institutions to provide high-quality prints and downloadable artwork derived from his influential nineteenth-century documentation.
