Portrait of a Man
Medium
daguerreotype
Dimensions
image (visible): 12.1 × 9 cm (4 3/4 × 3 9/16 in.) mat: 14.2 × 10.9 cm (5 9/16 × 4 5/16 in.) case (closed): 15.2 × 12.4 × 2.2 cm (6 × 4 7/8 × 7/8 in.)
Classification
Photograph
Department
CPH
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Mary and Dan Solomon
Accession Number
2025.12.3
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Portrait of a Man*, circa 1848 daguerreotype pioneering American photographers Marcus Aurelius Root and his Samuel Root. Captured a tiny silvered copper plate measuring just 12.1 × 9 cm, this intimate image exemplifies the daguerreotype process—photography's first practical method, introduced by Louis Daguerre in 9. The Roots, who ran successful studios in Philadelphia and Washington D.C., mastered this technique, producing sharp, mirror-like portraits that captured the Victorian era's poised formality. Daguerreotypes like this one were revolutionary, o...