Kieffer. Nicolas. 35 ans, né le 8/4/59 à Haltuiller (Meurthe). Menuisier. Anarchiste. 2/7/94.
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
2005.100.375.226
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1894, French forensic pioneer Alphonse Bertillon this stark portrait of Nicolas Kieffer a 35-year-old carpenter from Haltuiller in Meurthe-et-Moselle, labeled simply as an "anarchiste." Bertillon, founder of the Judicial Identification Service in Paris, revolutionized criminal anthropology with his Bertillonage system—a meticulous method combining anthropometric measurements, standardized photographs, and detailed physical descriptions to identify repeat offenders. This small albumen silver print from a glass negative (10.5 x 7 cm) exemplifies his mugshot protocol: a full-face view with pre...
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 ...