Portrait of a Man
late 1840s
Medium
salted paper print
Dimensions
overall: 14.5 x 11.3 cm (5 11/16 x 4 7/16 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Robert B. Menschel Fund
Accession Number
1998.53.1
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Portrait of a Man* by Baron Louis-Adol Humbert de Molard a French nobleman and pioneering photographer. Created in the late 1840s, this intimate salted paper print measures just 14.5 x 11.3 cm, inviting visitors to lean in close. The baron, an amateur innovator from Normandy, captured everyday subjects during photography's infancy, blending aristocratic curiosity with technical daring. Salted paper prints, developed from William Henry Fox Talbot's calotype process around 1840, marked a revolutionary shift. Unlike the one-of-a-kind daguerreotypes, this m...