Mihrab. Chapelle arabe de la Mosquée de Cordoue (Espagne)

Vintage contact print developed from a glass negative and adhered to a secondary support surface in carte-de-visite format.
Visiting cards or cartes de visite were extremely popular in the mid-19th century. In a world where social media and tourism did not exist, portraits of celebrities and anonymous individuals and views of landscapes and monuments were purchased, exchanged and often assembled to form genuine collectors’ albums.
This card by the French photographer Ladrey shows, in the foreground, the multifoil arches leading to the mihrab of the Great Mosque of Córdoba, built when Al-Hakam II enlarged the temple.
At the first home of the National Archaeological Museum, a building called the Queen’s Casino, a replica of these arches was installed in the garden; it had been donated by Bruno Zaldo in 1881 and may have been taken down in 1886 due to its derelict condition. This photograph may be related to that donation.