Elvira
1861–67, printed 1940s
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
36.8 x 41.6 cm. (14 1/2 x 16 3/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1947
Accession Number
47.149.15
Art Historical Context
**Elvira**, a mesmerizing gelatin silver print from the 1860s, captures the collaborative genius of photographer Pierre-Louis Pierson his muse, Countess Virginia Oldini Verasis di Cast. Created between 1861 and1867 but printed in the 194s, this 36.8 x 41.6 cm photograph hails from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Photographs collection, acquired through the David Hunter McAl Fund in 1947. The, an Italian noblewoman and one of the era's most notorious beauties, posed for Pierson in elaborate tableaux, often directing her own image to embody theatrical personas like "Elvira." In the glittering ...
About the Artist
Pierre-Louis Pierson|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...