Cornuault. Joseph. 17 ans, né à Angers (Maine & Loire). Peintre eu bâtiment. Anarchiste. 7/1/94.

Art Historical Context

This poignant albumen silver print from a glass negative captures Joseph Cornuault, a 17-year-old house painter Angers, France, labeled as an "anarchiste" and dated January 7, 1894. Created by Alphonse Bertillon, pioneering French forensic photographer, it exemplifies the clinical precision of his anthropometric system—widely known as "Bertillonage"—designed to identify criminals through standardized full-face and profile portraits paired with precise body measurements. At just 10.5 x 7 cm, this diminutive image from The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection invites us to confront the human face behind a label of radicalism. Bertillon's work emerged amid France's turbulent 1890s "Age of Anarchism," a period of social unrest marked by bombings, strikes, and fears of revolutionary violence following events like the 1893 Vaillant bombing. Cornuault's portrait reflects how photography transitioned from artistic portraiture to a tool of state surveillance, documenting suspected radicals like this young painter whose political fervor landed him in police records. Artistically, the medium's sharp detail and silvery tones highlight Bertillon's influence on modern photography, blending documentary objectivity with subtle psychological insight. Though small, it holds immense cultural weight, reminding visitors of photography's dual role in capturing both individual stories and broader histories of dissent.

About the Artist

Alphonse Bertillon · 1853–1914

Alphonse Bertillon (1853–1914) was a pioneering French photographer whose work revolutionized forensic documentation, transforming police identification into a precise visual science. Born in Paris on April 22, 1853, he was the son of medical professor and statistician Louis-Adolphe Bertillon and the younger brother of demographer Jacques Bertillon. Lacking formal higher education after expulsion ...