Frederick Douglass
In 1839 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre announced the perfection of the daguerreotype, a photographic process that employed a silver-coated copperplate sensitive to light. This new artistic process was celebrated for its remarkably sharp detail and praised as a “democratic art” that brought portraiture into reach for the masses. Within a few years, thousands of daguerrean portrait studios had sprung up all over the United States, among them the one that Samuel J. Miller owned in Akron, Ohio. Although most of the likenesses made in commercial studios were formulaic and not very revealing of the...
Details
- Palette
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Select a color to find related artworks.
- Medium
- Daguerreotype
- Dimensions
- 14 × 10.6 cm (5 1/2 × 4 1/8 in., plate); 12.1 × 8.8 cm (4 3/4 × 3 1/2 in., mat opening); 15.2 × 12 × 1.4 cm (6 × 4 3/4 × 1/2 in., plate in closed case); 15.2 × 24 × 2 cm (6 × 9 1/2 × 3/4 in., plate in open case)
- Origin
- United States
- Department
- Photography and Media
- Holding institution
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Image provider
- art-institute-chicago
- License
- CC0-1.0
- Credit
- Major Acquisitions Centennial Endowment
Art Genome Taxonomy
9 tags
Subject Matter
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Individual Portrait Both · 99%
The image shows one identifiable sitter in a formal bust-length composition, and the catalog title identifies the subject as Frederick Douglass and classifies the work among portraits.
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Face Visual · 98%
The oval image gives strong compositional emphasis to the sitter’s face, eyes, brow, and expression.
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African Diaspora Metadata · 97%
The catalog identifies Douglass as African American and situates the work within the history of an African American abolitionist and public figure.
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Political Metadata · 90%
The catalog identifies Douglass as a politician and abolitionist and discusses the portrait in relation to his campaign against slavery.
Visual Qualities
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Black and White Visual · 98%
The photographic plate is visibly monochromatic, with black, gray, and pale tonal ranges, although the surrounding case and mount are colored.
Medium and Techniques
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Photography Both · 100%
The image visibly presents a photographic portrait, and the catalog classifies the work as a photograph and daguerreotype.
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Traditional Photographic Techniques Metadata · 99%
The catalog identifies the medium as daguerreotype, an early photographic process using a silver-coated copper plate.
Time Periods
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19th Century Art Metadata · 99%
The catalog dates the daguerreotype to 1847–1852.
Geographic Regions
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American Art Metadata · 96%
The artist is identified as American, the place of origin is the United States, and the catalog situates the work within American daguerreotype culture.
Source & rights
Samuel J. Miller. Frederick Douglass. The Art Institute of Chicago.