Saint Sépulcre, abside

Despite the blinding desert light, Salzmann sensitively renders the undulating forms of the church’s structure, accumulated over centuries, in this view of the apse and dome. Unable to record the interior with his camera, he photographed every angle he could of the exterior. In the late 1860s, as part of an international effort to repair the church led by France’s Empress Eugénie, Salzmann was commissioned to decorate its interior as a painter. He fell out of favor with the lead architect, however, and may not have completed the project.