Cornuault. Joseph. 17 ans, né à Angers (Maine & Loire). Peintre eu bâtiment. Anarchiste. 7/1/94.
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
2005.100.375.125
Tags
Art Historical Context
This poignant albumen silver print from a glass negative captures Joseph Cornuault, a 17-year-old house painter Angers, France, labeled as an "anarchiste" and dated January 7, 1894. Created by Alphonse Bertillon, pioneering French forensic photographer, it exemplifies the clinical precision of his anthropometric system—widely known as "Bertillonage"—designed to identify criminals through standardized full-face and profile portraits paired with precise body measurements. At just 10.5 x 7 cm, this diminutive image from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection invites us to confront the...
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 ...