Portrait of a Girl
c. 1854
Medium
daguerreotype
Dimensions
image (visible): 3.1 × 2.5 cm (1 1/4 × 1 in.) mat: 4 × 4 cm (1 9/16 × 1 9/16 in.) case (closed): 5 × 4.5 × 1.5 cm (1 15/16 × 1 3/4 × 9/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Ross J. Kelbaugh Collection, Purchased with support from the Ford Foundation
Accession Number
2023.39.13
Art Historical Context
**Portrait of a Girl**, c. 1854, by Glenalvin Goodridge, offers a poignant glimpse into mid-19th-century America through the lens of early photography. This intimate daguerreotype captures a young girl's direct gaze, rendered in stunning detail on a minuscule silvered copper plate measuring just 3.1 × 2.5 cm. Housed in a protective case, it reflects the era's trend for personal keepsakes, cherished by families as treasured mementos. The daguerreotype process, patented in 1839, revolutionized portraiture by producing one-of-a-kind, highly polished images that shimmered like miniature mirrors. ...