Untitled (Portrait of a Woman with Two Girls)
1846
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
13.8 × 10.8 cm (5 7/16 × 4 5/16 in.); Open case: 15 × 24.3 × 1.2 cm (5 15/16 × 9 5/8 × 1/2 in.); Case: 15 × 12.2 × 1.8 cm (5 15/16 × 4 13/16 × 3/4 in.); Plate: 14 × 10.8 cm (5 1/2 × 4 1/4 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250010
Art Historical Context
This poignant *Untitled (Portrait of a Woman Two Girls)*, created in 1846 by an unknown maker, captures a tender family moment through the revolutionary medium of daguerreotype. Measuring just 13.8 × 10.8 cm in its plate, this intimate portrait housed in a protective case exemplifies early photography's ability to freeze everyday life with astonishing clarity. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Photography and Media, reflects the mid-19th-century fascination with preserving personal likenesses. Daguerreotypes, introduced to the public in 1839 by Louis Daguerre, were the fi...