Mlle Moncelet; Mlle Rousseau

Art Historical Context

In 1862, French photographer André-Adolpheugène Disdéri captured *Mlle Moncelet; Mlle Rousseau*, a double portrait rendered in albumen silver print from a glass negative. This medium, dominant in mid-19th-century photography, involved coating paper with egg whites (albumen) sensitized with silver salts, producing richly toned, highly detailed images prized for their clarity and warm hues. Measuring 7 3/8 × 9 1/4 inches, the print is mounted on a larger album page, evoking the era's popular photographic albums where such images were collected like trading cards. Disdéri, a pioneer of commercial photography during France's Second Empire, revolutionized portraiture with his invention of the carte de visite format around 1854—a small, affordable card-sized photo that sparked a collecting craze among the bourgeoisie and celebrities. Though larger than a standard carte, this work reflects his mastery of mass portrait production, likely depicting two young women from Parisian society, their poised elegance capturing the fashionable crinolines and refined demeanor of the time. Housed in The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Gilman Collection, this photograph exemplifies how photography democratized portraiture, blending artistry with emerging industrial techniques. It offers a window into 1860s cultural life, where images like these immortalized personal and social identities amid rapid technological change.

About the Artist

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri · 1819–1889

**André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri** (1819–1889) was a pioneering French photographer whose innovations transformed portraiture into a mass medium during the Second Empire. Born on March 28, 1819, in Paris, Disdéri pursued diverse careers in commerce, acting, and politics early on, while studying art amid personal hardships following his father's death, which compelled him to support his mother, sibli...