Percheron. Auguste. 56 ans, né à Poitier (Nièvre). Écrivain public. Anarchiste. 21/3/94.
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
2005.100.375.325
Tags
Art Historical Context
In 1894, French forensic pioneer Alphonse Bertillon this stark portrait of Auguste Percher, a 56-year-old public writer from Poitiers the Nièvre region, labeled simply as an "anarchiste." Produced as an albumen silver print from a glass negative crisp, detailed medium favored for its clarity in the era—the image measures a compact 10.5 x 7 cm, typical of Bertillon's systematic criminal identification cards, or *portée judiciaire*. Bertillon, chief of the Paris Prefecture's Identification Service, revolutionized criminology with his anthropometric system, combining precise measurements, standa...
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 ...