Godard. Armand, Alexandre. 18 ans, né le 11/3/75 à Paris XVIIe. Électricien. Cris séditieux. 6/1/94.
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
2005.100.375.184
Tags
Art Historical Context
This striking albumen silver print from a glass negative, created by Alphonse Bertillon in 189, captures the portrait of Armand Alexandre Godard, an18-year-old electrician from Paris's 17th arrondissement. Arrested on January 6, 1894, for "cris séditieux" (seditious shouts), Godard's mugshot exemplifies Bertillon's pioneering anthropometric system, or "Bertillonnage," the first scientific method of criminal identification. Measuring just 10.5 x 7 cm, it was part of a standardized series documenting physical measurements, tattoos, and profiles to catalog offenders in France's police archives. ...
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 ...