[Kraus]

Art Historical Context

This delicate albumen silver print from the 1860s captures a formal portrait of a man identified simply as Kraus. Created by photographer Ernst Milster, the small-scale image measures approximately 4 by 2½ inches, a format typical of cartes-de-visite that allowed portraits to be easily collected, traded, and displayed in personal albums. Such photographs marked a shift in the 19th century, making individualized likenesses accessible beyond the wealthy elite who once commissioned painted portraits. The albumen process, which coats paper with egg-white emulsion to hold light-sensitive silver sa...