Untitled (Portrait of Three Men and One Woman)
1857
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
16.4 × 21.5 cm (6 1/2 × 8 1/2 in., plate); 23 × 35.6 × 1.5 cm (open case); 23 × 17.8 × 2.4 cm (case)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
250018
Art Historical Context
Step into the dawn of photography with *Untitled (Portrait of Three Men and One Woman)*, a captivating daguerreotype created in 1857 by an unknown maker. This intimate group portrait, measuring 16.4 × 21.5 cm on its silvered copper plate, captures four individuals posed formally within an ornate case, embodying the era's fascination with preserving likenesses through this groundbreaking medium. Invented by Louis Daguerre in 1839, the daguerreotype was the first commercially viable photographic process, producing exquisitely detailed, one-of-a-kind positive images that shimmered like mirrors w...