Damalix. Émile, Auguste. 37 ans, né à St-Claude (Doubs). Charpentier. Anarchiste. 19/3/94.
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
2005.100.375.131
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, forensic pioneer Alphonse Bertillon criminal identification with his anthropometric system, combining precise body measurements with standardized photography. This 1894 albumen silver print a glass negative captures Émile Auguste Damalix a 37-year-old born in St-Claude (Dou), labeled simply as "Anarchiste (Anarchist). March 19, 1894, the small portrait (10.5 x 7 cm) exemplifies Bertillon's meticulous mugshot technique, used by the Paris Prefecture of Police to catalog suspects amid France's turbulent era of social unrest. The image emerges from a time of heightened a...
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 ...