Artwork Page for Untitled (French Military Heroes and Political Leaders)

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Untitled (French Military Heroes and Political Leaders)

mid-1860s

André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri

(French, 1819–1889)
Culture
France
Medium
albumen print, montage carte-de-visite
Measurements
Image: 9.2 x 5.8 cm (3 5/8 x 2 5/16 in.); Paper: 10.1 x 6.2 cm (4 x 2 7/16 in.)
Credit Line
John Cook Memorial Fund 2017.12
Public Domain
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Location
230 Photography
Print
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Did You Know?

This montage of France’s military and other leaders is a mosaic carte, a form invented by Disdéri in 1863.

Description

A mosaic was produced by cutting photographs of hundreds of figures away from their backgrounds, mounting the likenesses on a single sheet, photographing that collage, and printing the result on 6 x 9 cm cards. These entertaining images sold well and were effective advertising for the photographer’s prowess. A list identifying each individual accompanied the mosaics, but most of those sheets have been lost.
A vertically oriented sepia print depicts over a hundred miniature portraits of men with light skin tones arranged in dense rows. Many wear dark military uniforms featuring medals, sashes, and bicorn hats, while others wear formal suits. Most faces look directly out at us. In the lower margin, black text reads "Disdéri.Phot" with handwritten characters "50f" beneath. The entire composition has a muted, grainy, and crowded mosaic quality.

Untitled (French Military Heroes and Political Leaders)

mid-1860s

André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri

(French, 1819–1889)
France

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