M.Taglioni
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 7 3/8 × 9 1/4 in. (18.8 × 23.5 cm) Album page: 10 3/8 × 13 3/4 in. (26.3 × 35 cm)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.588.1.138
Art Historical Context
In the captivating portrait *M. Taglioni* (1878), French photographer André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri the poised elegance of his subject, likely the renowned ballerina Marie Tagl or a family member, evoking the theatrical splendor of Second Empire Paris. Disdéri, a pioneer in commercial photography, revolutionized portraiture in the 1850s with his invention of the carte de visite—a small, affordable card-mounted photo that turned celebrities into collectible icons, fueling a craze akin to modern trading cards. By 1878, his work had evolved to larger formats, as seen in this intimate yet grand ima...
About the Artist
André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri · 1819–1889
**André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri** (1819–1889) was a pioneering French photographer whose innovations transformed portraiture into a mass medium during the Second Empire. Born on March 28, 1819, in Paris, Disdéri pursued diverse careers in commerce, acting, and politics early on, while studying art amid personal hardships following his father's death, which compelled him to support his mother, sibli...