Plate Number 439. Spreading a rug on the floor

Art Historical Context

Eadweard Muybridge's *Plate Number 439.reading a Rug on the Floor* (1887) is a captivating entry from his groundbreaking *Animal Locomotion* series, revolutionized how we understand movement through photography. Commissioned by the University of, the series captured sequential images of humans and animals in motion using multiple cameras triggered in rapid succession. This collotype print, part of the Corcoran Collection at the National Gallery of Art depicts a nude figure dynamically spreading a rug, freezing everyday action into 12 precise frames across its expansive 19.2 × 40.6 cm image area. Muybridge, a British-born innovator, pioneered chronophotography in the 1870s, famously proving that galloping horses lift all four hooves off the ground—a feat that eluded painters for centuries. The collotype medium, prized for its photomechanical precision and tonal fidelity, allowed mass reproduction of these studies, bridging art and science. This plate exemplifies his analytical approach, blending anatomical detail with rhythmic flow, influencing early filmmakers like the Lumière brothers. For visitors, this work offers a window into Victorian-era curiosity about the body in motion, blending scientific rigor with aesthetic grace. It's a testament to photography's power to dissect time itself.

About the Artist

Eadweard Muybridge · 1830–1904

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was an English-American photographer who revolutionized the understanding of motion through his pioneering chronophotographic studies. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames, England, he emigrated to America and became famous first for his dramatic landscape photographs of Yosemite Valley, then for his groundbreaking motion studies that proved horses li...