Shepherds Keeping Watch By Night
Object:
Photograph
Place of origin:
Isle of Wight, England (photographed)
Date:
1865-1866 (photographed)
Artist/Maker:
Julia Margaret Cameron, born 1815 - died 1879 (photographer)
Materials and Techniques:
Albumen print from wet collodion glass negative.
Museum number:
PH.337-1981
The title references a passage from Luke 2:8. As part of the Nativity, an angel appears to "shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night," telling them of Christ's birth. In this image, the young Elizabeth Keown represents the angel, while Mary Ryan, as Madonna, gazes upon the baby Jesus, represented by Percy Keown, the brother of Elizabeth.
Mary Ryan was the personal servant of Julia Margaret Cameron. The Keowns were the children of Thomas Keown, a Royal Artilleryman stationed in the Isle of Wight. Ryan and the Keown children modeled frequently for Cameron.
Victoria & Albert Museum