Brunel. Alexandre. 50 ans, né le 25/12/43 à Renaix (Belgique). Menuisier. Anarchiste. 3/7/94.
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
2005.100.375.81
Tags
Art Historical Context
This poignant portrait, titled *Brunel. Alexandre. 50 ans né le 25/12/43 à Renaix (Belgique). Menu. Anarchiste. 3/7/94*, captures Alexandre Brunel, 50-year-old Belgian-born carpenter and self-identified anarchist, on July 3, 1894. Created by Alphonse Bertillon, the French forensic photographer and inventor of the anthropometric identification system, it exemplifies early criminal mugshot photography. Bertillon's meticulous portraits were not mere snapshots but standardized tools for police archives, combining full-face and profile views to aid in suspect identification amid rising concerns ove...
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 ...