Godard. Armand, Alexandre. 18 ans, né le 11/3/75 à Paris XVIIe. Électricien. Cris séditieux. 6/1/94.

Art Historical Context

This striking albumen silver print from a glass negative, created by Alphonse Bertillon in 189, captures the portrait of Armand Alexandre Godard, an18-year-old electrician from Paris's 17th arrondissement. Arrested on January 6, 1894, for "cris séditieux" (seditious shouts), Godard's mugshot exemplifies Bertillon's pioneering anthropometric system, or "Bertillonnage," the first scientific method of criminal identification. Measuring just 10.5 x 7 cm, it was part of a standardized series documenting physical measurements, tattoos, and profiles to catalog offenders in France's police archives. Bertillon, a Paris prefecture clerk turned forensic photographer, revolutionized law enforcement in the late 19th century by blending photography with precise metrics, predating fingerprints. These images, once purely functional, now hold artistic value for their clinical precision and unflinching gaze into social unrest—here, likely tied to labor protests or anarchist fervor amid France's Third Republic tensions. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this photograph bridges documentary record and portraiture, offering a poignant window into everyday lives disrupted by authority. Its sharp detail, achieved through albumen printing on glass negatives, underscores photography's early role in both control and cultural memory.

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 ...