Marie in front of Nuremberg

Stadtarchiv Nürnberg, E29/X, BI0256
Paul Sigmund Cramer: Maria Franziska Karoline von Tucher (1848–1916), 1862

Marie, the youngest daughter of Frieda and Wilhelm von Tucher, is portrayed against a painted studio backdrop. The background shows a green area with a large tree on the right, a lake and finally, in the distance, a round tower, which is clearly recognisable as one of the characteristic Nuremberg city wall towers. To reinforce the impression that the girl is actually outdoors, there is a potted plant next to her.

Backdrops with specific places seem to have been a specialty of the photographer Paul Sigmund Cramer, who was active in Nuremberg around 1853 to 1868. Like here, they appear over a large area or as an apparent window view. They were even painted onto the finished photograph according to individual customer requests.

Lisa Reinhard