Notelez. Charles, Émile. 29 ans, né à Paris XXe. Portefeuilliste. Anarchiste. 26/2/94.
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
2005.100.375.307
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, France's turbulent era of social unrest, Alphonse Bertillon pioneered photography with his anthropometric system, known as *Bertillonage*. This 1894 albumen silver print from a glass negative captures Charles Émile Notelez a 29-year-old stock portfolio manager labeled an "anarchiste." Created on February 26, the small 10.5 x 7 cm portrait—part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection—exemplifies Bertillon's meticulous mugshot format, featuring standardized frontal and profile views to aid criminal identification. Bertillon, a Paris police clerk turned in...
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 ...