La capuche
1860s
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
9.8 x 12.7 cm. (3 7/8 x 5 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
David Hunter McAlpin Fund, 1975
Accession Number
1975.548.198
Tags
Art Historical Context
**La Capuche** is a charming 1860s albumen silver by Pierre-Louis Pierson, a French photographer of the Second Empire era. Captured from a glass negative, this intimate portrait measures just 9.8 x 12.7 cm, typical of the carte-de-vis format that revolutionized personal photography. Pierson, who ran the prestigious Mayer & Pierson studio Paris, excelled in elegant portraits of the elite, often highlighting fashion and poise against painted backdrops. The albumen process, using egg whites to coat paper for a glossy sheen, produced richly toned images with remarkable detail—perfect for this clo...
About the Artist
Pierre-Louis Pierson · 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...