Margerand. Claude. 32 ans, né le 24/3/61 à Beaujeu (Rhône). Cordonnier. Anarchiste. 3/7/94.
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
2005.100.375.269
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1894, pioneering forensic photographer Alphonse Bertillon this stark portrait of Claude Marger, a 32-year-old shoemaker from Beaujeu in France's Rhône region, labeled as an "anarchiste." The image, part of Bertillon's meticulous identification system, records Margerand's details—birthdate March 24, 1861, and arrest date July 3, 1894—in precise, bureaucratic script, transforming a personal record into a haunting artifact of late 19th-century criminal justice. Bertillon revolutionized policing with his anthropometric method, combining body measurements with standardized mugshots taken from f...
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 ...