Plate Number 446. Filling a pitcher on the ground from a water jar

Art Historical Context

Step into the groundbreaking world of motion capture with *Plate Number 446. Filling a pitcher the ground from a water* by Eadweard Muy, created in 1887. This collotype print, measuring 21.3 × 36.5 cm, a sequence of a nude figure gracefully bending to fill a pitcher from a large water jar on the ground Muybridge, a pioneering photographer, revolutionized visual arts through his meticulous studies of human and animal movement. Part of the monumental *Animal Locomotion*—comprising 781 plates produced that same year—this image exemplifies Muybridge's chronophotographic technique. Using multiple cameras triggered in rapid succession, he froze everyday actions into sequential frames, blending art and science. Commissioned originally for the University of Pennsylvania, the series was reproduced via collotype, a precise photomechanical process that allowed for stunningly detailed, large-scale prints like this 48.5 × 61.1 cm sheet. Muybridge's work not only advanced scientific understanding of anatomy and kinetics but also laid foundational stones for cinema and modern animation. Acquired by the Corcoran Gallery in 1887 and now in the National Gallery of Art's Corcoran Collection, this plate invites us to marvel at the fluid poetry of motion, turning a simple domestic task into a timeless study of the human form.

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...