[Mugshots of Suspected Anarchists from French Police Files]
1891–95
![[Mugshots of Suspected Anarchists from French Police Files] by Alphonse Bertillon](https://images.artheonmuseum.org/met/ph/thumb/mugshots-of-suspected-anarchists-from-french-286605.webp)
Medium
Albumen silver prints and gelatin silver prints
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
2005.100.375.1–.434
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, amid France's turbulent era of anarchist unrest and bombings, Alphonse Bertillon revolutionized identification with his pioneering "Bertillonage" system This collection of mugshots from French police files, created between 1891 and 1895, exemplifies his method: standardized front and profile portraits paired with precise bodily measurements. Captured as small albumen silver and gelatin silver prints—early photographic processes prized for their sharp detail and tonal range—these 105 x 7 cm images were not mere records but tools for scientific policing. Bertillon, oft...
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 ...