Jardin zoologique de Bruxelles; Les trois jumeaux fils de Mr. Lebens et toute la famille

Art Historical Context

Step into the vibrant world of 1850s Brussels with *Jardin zoologique de Bruxelles Les trois jumeaux de Mr. Lebens et toute la famille*, a salted paper print by Louis-Pierre-Théophile de Nehaut, between 1854 and 1856. Captured at the city's newly opened zoo—a popular destination for bourgeois leisure—this charming photograph features the three triplet sons of Mr. Lebens posed with their family amid horse-drawn carriages. It offers a rare glimpse into mid-19th-century family life, blending portraiture with the excitement of urban outings. Dubois de Nehaut, a pioneering French photographer, employed the calotype process, printing from a paper negative onto salted paper. This technique, invented by William Henry Fox Talbot, produced soft, textured images with subtle tonal ranges, ideal for capturing everyday scenes before the sharper clarity of later gelatin processes. The large sheet size (13 3/8 × 18 1/8 in.) allowed for detailed group compositions, highlighting the era's fascination with photography as both art and documentation. Now part of the Met's Gilman Collection, this print underscores early photography's role in preserving personal milestones—like celebrating triplets—in public spaces. It evokes the joy of 19th-century family adventures, reminding us how zoos symbolized modernity and wonder for Victorian-era visitors.

About the Artist

Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut · 1799–1872

Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut (1799–1872) was a French artist and early enthusiast of photography whose career bridged the worlds of traditional draughtsmanship and the new mechanical image-making technologies that transformed visual culture in the nineteenth century. Trained in the conventions of French academic art, he possessed the skills of a practiced draughtsman before turning his ...