Untitled (Portrait of Wild Animal Tamer Jacob Driesbach with Jaguar)
Medium
Daguerreotype
Dimensions
10.8 × 14 cm (4 5/16 × 5 9/16 in.); Open case: 15.4 × 24.3 × 1 cm (6 1/8 × 9 5/8 × 7/16 in.); Case: 15.4 × 12.3 × 1.7 cm (6 1/8 × 4 7/8 × 11/16 in.); Plate: 10.8 × 14 cm (4 1/4 × 5 1/2 in.)
Classification
portrait
Department
Photography and Media
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
249850
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
The Langenheim brothers immigrated as young men to the United States, where they became two of the earliest successful commercial photographers in the country. They established a portrait studio in Philadelphia, distinguishing themselves with hand-painted daguerreotypes—polished silver plates sensitized to light with mercury vapor—and other innovations in photographic technology, such as the use of glass negatives and stereoscopy. This daguerreotype portrays “Herr” Jacob Driesbach, who performed...