Theriez. Louis (ou Perriez). 35 ans, né le 29/8/58 à Paris. Ébéniste. Anarchiste. 16/3/94.
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
10.5 x 7 x 0.5 cm (4 1/8 x 2 3/4 x 3/16 in.) each
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gilman Collection, Museum Purchase, 2005
Accession Number
2005.100.375.405
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the late 19th century, France's turbulent anarchist movement, Alphonse Bertillon pioneered photography with his systematic "anthropometric" portraits. This 1894 albumen silver print a glass negative captures Louis Theriez (or Perriez), a 35-year-old Parisian cabinetmaker in 1858 and labeled an "Anarchiste" on March16, 1894. At just 10.5 x 7 cm, this intimate mugshot exemplifies Bertillon meticulous method, combining full-face and profile views to aid criminal identification before fingerprints became standard. Bertillon's work revolutionized policing during a era of political unrest, when ...
About the Artist
Alphonse Bertillon · 1853–1914
Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914) was a pioneering French photographer whose work revolutionized forensic documentation, transforming police identification into a precise visual science. Born in Paris on April 22, 1853, he was the son of medical professor and statistician Louis-Adolphe Bertillon and the younger brother of demographer Jacques Bertillon. Lacking formal higher education after expulsion ...