The Microscope; Thereza and Elinor

Art Historical Context

In the mid-19th century, as photography emerged as a revolutionary medium, John Dillwyn Llewelyn a pioneering Welsh photographer and botanist, captured intimate family moments that bridged art and science. *The Microscope; Thereza and El* (1853–56) features his daughters Thereza and Elinor, likely posed with a microscope, highlighting the era's fascination with scientific discovery. Co-credited to Thereza Dillwyn Llew, who herself pursued photography and astronomy, this double salted paper print (one small at 7.6 × 9 cm, the other larger at 13.8 × 10.5 cm) reflects collaborative creativity within the family. Salted paper prints, one of the earliest positive processes from paper negatives, produced soft, warm-toned images prized for their painterly quality. This technique, perfected in the 1840s by William Henry Fox Talbot, allowed for detailed portraits that captured fleeting domestic scenes. Here, the microscope symbolizes enlightenment and curiosity, portraying girls engaged in science—a progressive nod to women's intellectual roles amid Victorian norms. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this work underscores photography's role in documenting personal and scientific worlds, blending portraiture with the wonder of magnification in an age of rapid innovation.

About the Artist

John Dillwyn Llewelyn|Thereza Dillwyn Llewelyn · 1810–1882

John Dillwyn Llewelyn (1810–1882) was a pioneering Welsh photographer and botanist whose innovative images captured the dramatic landscapes of his Penllergare estate and the Welsh coast. Born on 12 January 1810 in Swansea as the eldest son of botanist Lewis Weston Dillwyn and Mary Dillwyn, he inherited the Penllergare estate from his maternal grandfather, Colonel John Llewelyn, upon coming of age ...