Bust of Patroclus
August 9, 1843
Medium
Salted paper print
Dimensions
Image: 14.9 × 14.5 cm (5 7/8 × 5 3/4 in.); Paper: 23.2 × 18.9 cm (9 3/16 × 7 1/2 in.)
Classification
salted paper print
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
39020
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
Like many educated and wealthy Victorians, Talbot possessed a strong grounding in the classics. This plaster cast of Patroclus, the loyal defender of Achilles—made from a marble original in the British Museum—was a favorite subject for Talbot. Besides kindly remaining still for lengthy exposures, the sculpture also offered broad modulations of light and shadow that the relatively insensitive material of the paper print could capture well in the camera. Between 1839 and 1843, Talbot made at least...
About the Artist
William Henry Fox Talbot · 1800–1877
William Henry Fox Talbot (1800–1877), a British polymath whose ingenuity transformed visual representation, was born on 11 February 1800 at Melbury House, Dorset, the only child of William Davenport Talbot of Lacock Abbey and Lady Elisabeth Fox Strangways, daughter of the 2nd Earl of Ilchester. His father died shortly after his birth, leaving the family in financial straits until his formidable mo...