The Juggler Manoel
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 19.9 × 23.2 cm (7 13/16 × 9 1/8 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Purchase, Ann Tenenbaum and Thomas H. Lee Gift, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.284
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the vibrant world of 19th street performance with *The Juggler Manoel* (1861), a captivating albumen silver print by pioneering French photographer André-Adol-Eugène Disd. Captured from a glass negative, this 19.9 × 23.2 cm image showcases Manoel mid-act, his focused expression and dynamic pose freezing a moment of skillful entertainment. Albumen prints, coated with egg whites for their luminous tones and fine detail, were the gold standard of photography in the 1850s and 1860s, allowing Disdéri to produce sharp, intimate portraits that democratized image-making. Disdéri revolutioni...
About the Artist
André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri · 1819–1889
**André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri** (1819–1889) was a pioneering French photographer whose innovations transformed portraiture into a mass medium during the Second Empire. Born on March 28, 1819, in Paris, Disdéri pursued diverse careers in commerce, acting, and politics early on, while studying art amid personal hardships following his father's death, which compelled him to support his mother, sibli...