Untitled (Portrait of a Standing Man)
1860s
Medium
Tintype
Dimensions
9.3 × 5.6 cm (3 11/16 × 2 1/4 in.); Card: 11 × 8.5 cm (4 3/8 × 3 3/8 in.); Plate: 10.2 × 7.7 cm (4 × 3 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250247
Art Historical Context
Step into the intimate world of 19th-century photography with *Untitled (Portrait of a Man)*, a tintype from the 186s captured by an unknown maker. This small-scale portrait (9.3 × 5.6 cm) depicts a poised gentleman standing confidently, his attire and stance evoking the everyday formality of mid-Victorian life. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's and Media department, it exemplifies the era's democratized portraiture. Tintypes, invented in the 1850s, photography by making images affordable and portable. Produced on thin sheets of iron coated with collodion, these one-of-a-kind positives...