Ars Photographica

Ars Photographica
Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Cardinal Pecci
1867

Expressa solis spiculo
Nitens imago, quam bene
Frontis decus, vim luminum
Refers, et oris gratiam.

O mira virtus ingeni
Novumque monstrum! Imaginem
Naturae Apelles aemulus
Non pulchriorem pingeret.


On Photography
(translated by H.T. Henry, 1902)

Sun-wrought with magic of the skies
The image fair before me lies:
Deep-vaulted brain and sparkling eyes
And lip's fine chiselling.

O miracle of human thought,
O art with newest marvels fraught -
Apelles, Nature's rival, wrought
No fairer imaging!

This poem was set to music by Gavin Bryars, and is available on Amazon: On Photography - Bryars, Maskats, Silvestrov.