Untitled (Portrait of a Standing)
1848
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
13.8 × 10.7 cm (5 7/16 × 4 1/4 in.); Open case: 14.8 × 23.7 × 1.1 cm (5 7/8 × 9 3/8 × 7/16 in.); Case: 14.8 × 11.7 × 2 cm (5 7/8 × 4 5/8 × 13/16 in.); Plate: 14 × 10.8 cm (5 1/2 × 4 1/4 in.)
Classification
photography
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250145
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Untitled (Portrait of a)*, a captivating daguerreotype from 1848 now housed in the Art Institute Chicago's Photography and Media. This intimate portrait captures an unidentified figure in a poised, standing pose, rendered on a delicate 14 × 10.8 cm silvered copper plate Housed in an ornate case 14.8 ×11.7 × 2 cm, it exemplifies the era's careful preservation of these fragile, one-of-a-kind images. Daguerreotypy, announced to the world in 183 by Louis Daguerre, revolutionized image-making just a decade before this piece. By 1848, it had become the gold s...
About the Artist
Unknown
The artist designated as "Unknown" in our virtual museum's collection exemplifies a poignant chapter in art history: creators whose identities have faded into obscurity despite the enduring power of their work. With only one known artwork attributed to them in our holdings, this figure represents countless anonymous hands that shaped visual culture across centuries. Museums worldwide, including th...