Bouchenez. Adolphe. 36 ans, 27/2/94. (En rouge barrant la fiche: "Transféré à Mazas. À faire extraire").
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
10.5 x 7 x 0.5 cm (4 1/8 x 2 3/4 x 3/16 in.) each
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.375.65
Tags
Art Historical Context
This poignant albumen silver print from a glass negative created by Alphonseillon in 1894, captures Adolphe Bouchenez, aged 36, as part of the pioneering French system of criminal identification known as *bertillonage*. Titled with meticulous detail—"Bouchenez. Adolphe. 36 ans, 27/2/94"—and struck through in red with the note "Transféré Mazas. À faireire" (Transferred to Mazas. To be extracted), it documents a suspect's transfer to the infamous Paris prison. Measuring just 10.5 x 7 cm, this compact card from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection evokes the clinical precision of la...
About the Artist
Alphonse Bertillon · 1853–1914
Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914) was a pioneering French photographer whose work revolutionized forensic documentation, transforming police identification into a precise visual science. Born in Paris on April 22, 1853, he was the son of medical professor and statistician Louis-Adolphe Bertillon and the younger brother of demographer Jacques Bertillon. Lacking formal higher education after expulsion ...