U.S. Monitor "Mahopac" on the Appomattox River
Medium
Albumen silver print from glass negative
Dimensions
Image: 12.9 x 20.1 cm (5 1/16 x 7 15/16 in.)
Classification
Photographs
Department
Photographs
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1933
Accession Number
33.65.82
Tags
Art Historical Context
Captured in 1864 by pioneering photographer Mathew B. Brady his studio, *U.S. Monitor "opac" on theomattox River* offers a vivid glimpse into the American Civil War's naval might. This albumen silver print from a glass negative depicts the ironclad monitor ship stationed on the river, a strategic waterway near key Union operations during the Siege of Petersburg. Brady, for his exhaustive documentation of the conflict, employed teams of photographers to record the war's gritty realities, making this image a precious historical artifact. The medium—albumen silver print—was the gold standard of ...
About the Artist
Mathew B. Brady|Unknown · 1823–1896
Mathew B. Brady (c. 1823–1896) was an American photographer who became the most famous photographer of the Civil War era and one of the founding figures of American photographic history. Born in Warren County, New York, to Irish immigrant parents, he learned the daguerreotype process from Samuel F.B. Morse and William Page and opened his first portrait studio in New York City in 1844. Brady quick...