Untitled (Portrait of Charles Darling)
1854
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
10.7 × 8.3 cm (4 1/4 × 3 5/16 in.); Open case: 11.8 × 19 × 1.2 cm (4 11/16 × 7 1/2 × 1/2 in.); Case: 11.8 × 9.5 × 1.7 cm (4 11/16 × 3 3/4 × 11/16 in.); Plate: 10.8 × 8.3 cm (4 1/4 × 3 1/4 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250131
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Untitled (Portrait of Charles)*, a exquisite daguerreotype from 1854 created by a master of the Boston School. This intimate portrait captures the subject in sharp, mirror-like detail on a silvered copper plate measuring just 10.7 × 8.3 cm, housed in a protective case typical of the era. Produced at the Art Institute of Chicago's Department of Photography and Media, exemplifies early photographic portraiture's precision and elegance. The Boston School, a collective of innovative daguerreotypists in mid-19th-century Massachusetts, elevated the medium wit...