Untitled (Portrait of a Reclined Woman)
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
6.9 × 8.3 cm (2 3/4 × 3 5/16 in.); Open case: 9.5 × 16.4 × 1.5 cm (3 3/4 × 6 1/2 × 5/8 in.); Case: 9.5 × 8.2 × 2 cm (3 3/4 × 3 1/4 × 13/16 in.); Plate: 8.3 × 7 cm (3 1/4 × 2 3/4 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
249864
Art Historical Context
John Adams Whipple’s *Untitled (Portrait of a Reclined Woman)*, created in 1855, offers a glimpse into the early days of photography as both an artistic and scientific pursuit. Whipple, a pioneering American photographer based in Boston, helped popularize the daguerreotype process in the United States during the mid-nineteenth century. This small, intimate image—housed in a protective case typical of the era—captures a woman in a relaxed, reclining pose, a composition that reflects the growing possibilities of portraiture once exposure times shortened. The daguerreotype medium itself marks a ...