William Mortensen
The King of Kings

CultureAmerican
Titles
  • The King of Kings
Date1927
MediumBook with gelatin silver prints
DimensionsImage (Each): 9 1/2 × 7 1/2 in. (24.1 × 19.1 cm)
Overall: 17 × 14 × 3 in. (43.2 × 35.6 × 7.6 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase funded by the Caroline Wiess Law Endowment Accessions Fund, Photography Book Collection
Object numberLIB.710
Not on view

Explore Further

Department
Hirsch Library
Description

With a cast of thousands and over-the-top scenery, Cecil B. DeMille’s epic film The King of Kings recounts the final episodes of the life of Christ. Throughout the making of the film in 1926 and 1927, photographer William Mortensen shot nearly 5,000 images including close-up portrait studies of the principal actors, restaged scenes, and—unprecedented for the time—stills taken on set during the filming of the most spectacular sequences. So impressed was DeMille with the results that he commissioned Mortensen to produce prints for a privately published book with 60 tipped-in photographs and a production run of 50 copies.

With his background as a painter and photographer of Hollywood sets, Mortensen had already developed a romantic sensibility and stylistic predilection for theatricality that proved to be a perfect visual language for translating the broad gestures, exaggerated expressions, and grand spectacle characteristic of DeMille’s movies. He considered his original negatives to be merely a starting point that, through retouching, drawing, hand-coloring, and other manipulation, could reach their full expressive potential. Indeed, with dramatically staged poses and extensive handwork, Mortensen’s "King of Kings" pictures look more like drawings or etchings than photography.



ProvenanceCecil B. DeMille; given to John J. Flinn, likely 1927; […]; [Sotheby Parke Bernet, California, February 16–17, 1982]; private collection, 1982; [consigned to Larry Gottheim, Be-Hold, Yonkers, New York]; purchased by MFAH, 2021.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
Inscribed in ink on first blank page: To John J. Flinn - // To one who understands - // and with thanks for the // splendid help of your son - // sincerely - // Cecil B. DeMille.

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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