Plate Number 363. Running somersault

Art Historical Context

Behold *Plate Number 363. Running Somersault*, a captivating collotype print from Eadweard Muybridge's seminal *Animal Locomotion* series, created in 1887. Muybridge, a pioneering British-American photographer, captured this dynamic sequence of an acrobat mid-air, performing a running somersault. The image measures 26.3 × 27.2 cm, reproduced on a larger 48.4 × 61.3 cm sheet, showcasing the fluid progression of motion across multiple frames. This work exemplifies Muybridge's revolutionary chronophotography technique, using multiple cameras triggered in rapid succession to "freeze" movement, debunking long-held artistic misconceptions about anatomy in action. Commissioned originally by Leland Stanford and later expanded, the series—comprising 781 plates—advanced scientific study of locomotion while influencing early film and animation. The collotype medium, a precise photomechanical process, allowed for exquisite detail in mass production, making these studies accessible beyond the lab. Acquired by the Corcoran Gallery in 1887 and now in the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, this plate invites visitors to marvel at human agility frozen in time, bridging art, science, and the dawn of modern media.

About the Artist

Eadweard Muybridge · 1830–1904

Eadweard Muybridge (1830-1904) was an English-American photographer who revolutionized the understanding of motion through his pioneering chronophotographic studies. Born Edward James Muggeridge in Kingston upon Thames, England, he emigrated to America and became famous first for his dramatic landscape photographs of Yosemite Valley, then for his groundbreaking motion studies that proved horses li...