Martineau. Jules, Louis. 30 ans, né à Angers (Maine & Loire). Peintre en bâtiment. 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
2005.100.375.274
Tags
Art Historical Context
This poignant 1894 albumen silver print by Alphonse Bertillon captures Jules Louis Martineau, 30-year-old house from Angers, France, starkly labeled as an "Anarchiste." Measuring just 10.5 x 7 cm, this intimate mugshot from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection exemplifies Bertillon's pioneering work as a forensic photographer for the Paris Prefecture of Police. During a turbulent era of social unrest and anarchist activities in fin-de-siècle France—marked by bombings and political trials—such images documented suspects with clinical precision. Bertillon revolutionized criminal i...
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 ...