Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative with applied color
Dimensions
Image: 12.5 x 8.9 cm (4 15/16 x 3 1/2 in.) Mount: 14.4 x 10.9 cm (5 11/16 x 4 5/16 in.) Mat: 35.6 x 43.2 cm (14 x 17 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.402
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
Art Historical Context
"Costigliole" (1862–67) is a captivating albumen silver print from a negative, hand-colored to mimic the vibrancy of paintings, created by photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson in collaboration with the enigmatic Countess Virginia Oldoiniasis di Castiglione. This intimate portrait, measuring just 12.5 x 8.9 cm, captures a tender moment between women and children, blending the precision of mid-19th-century photography with artistic embellishment. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, it the era's innovative fusion of technology and portraiture. The Countess of Castiglione, a notorious beauty and adventuress at Napoleon III's court, was a pioneer in self-staged photography, using Pierson's studio to craft elaborate tableaux that blurred the lines between reality and fantasy. Produced during France's Second Empire, when photography was revolutionizing portraiture, the applied color technique added a painterly allure, elevating the medium from mere documentation to high art. "Costigliole" likely evokes the Italian noble's heritage, with its subjects in evocative attire, highlighting themes of identity and performance. This photograph's cultural significance lies in its glimpse into aristocratic life and the Countess's bold self-fashioning—over 400 such images survive, making her one of history's first "selfie" influencers. A charming window into Victorian-era glamour, it invites visitors to ponder how early photographers like Pierson transformed personal snapshots into timeless icons.
About the Artist
Pierre-Louis Pierson|Unknown|Countess Virginia Oldoini Verasis di Castiglione · 1822–1913
Pierre-Louis Pierson (1822–1913) was a pioneering French portrait photographer whose career spanned the formative years of the medium. Born on December 13, 1822, in Hinckange in the Moselle department, Pierson developed an early fascination with photography during the 1840s, as the daguerreotype was still in its infancy. His early life and formal training remain sparsely documented, but by 1844, h...