Emile De Girardin
1875/77
Medium
Woodburytype, from the periodical “Galerie Contemporaine Littéraire, Artistique” (1877), volume 2
Dimensions
Image/paper: 23.8 × 19 cm (9 3/8 × 7 1/2 in.); Mount: 34.2 × 26 cm (13 1/2 × 10 1/4 in.)
Classification
woodburytype
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
144533
Art Historical Context
This striking woodburytype portrait captures Émile de Girardin, the influential French journalist and newspaper publisher, around 1875–77. Created by the photographer Fontaine, the image originally appeared in the prestigious periodical *Galerie Contemporaine Littéraire, Artistique* (1877), volume 2—a publication dedicated to documenting leading cultural and political figures of the era through high-quality photographic reproductions. The woodburytype process itself represents a pinnacle of 19th-century photographic printing. Invented by Walter B. Woodbury in 1866, it produced rich, continuou...