Three masques of gorgons in terra cotta

The three terra cotta gorgon masks depict mythological guardians with snarling features, typical of ancient Greek and Etruscan decorative art. Their presence in the Campana Collection signals their value as archaeological artifacts, studied for stylistic and symbolic insight. Laffon’s photograph preserves their form with clinical precision, emphasizing their role as models for artistic study rather than as objects of aesthetic admiration.

Laffon employed the albumen print process, common in mid-19th-century photographic practice, to produce sharp, tonally rich images. Her composition is direct and unadorned, focusing on the masks’ frontality and surface detail. The lighting is even, minimizing shadow to aid in visual analysis. This approach aligns with the museum’s goal of creating objective records for academic use, blending scientific documentation with artistic reference.

The gorgon masks originated in the Campana Collection, assembled by Italian nobleman Giampietro Campana and later acquired by Napoleon III’s museum in Paris. Laffon, one of the earliest professional female photographers in France, documented these artifacts in the early 1860s. The V&A acquired her photographs through Monsieur E. Cappe, integrating them into its growing photographic archive, which had been formally established in 1852.

During the 1850s and 60s, the Victoria and Albert Museum, under Henry Cole’s leadership, pioneered the use of photography in art education. Photographs were treated as instructional materials, supplementing casts and drawings. Laffon’s work was part of a broader international network of documentation, where institutions collaborated to build visual archives. Female photographers like her were instrumental yet often unacknowledged in this system.

Laffon’s photographs helped establish photography’s legitimacy as a tool for scholarly and administrative purposes within museums. Her contribution, though historically overlooked, exemplifies the quiet but vital role women played in early institutional photography. The V&A’s retention of these images underscores their enduring value as both historical records and artifacts of photographic practice in the 19th century.