Title
Dead Child On a Sofa, c. 1855. Creator: Unidentified Photographer.
Caption
Dead Child On a Sofa, c. 1855. This carefully staged daguerreotype of a dead child is an outstanding example of a very common subject: the postmortem portrait. Using the stylistic conventions of the day, the unidentified artist successfully created a visually pleasing scene, despite the nature of the image. Dressed in white with a bouquet of flowers on the chest, the child, seen in profile, reclines on an elaborately patterned sofa. Delicate flesh tones were added to the cheek and arm, suggestive of a healthy child sleeping. The high rate of infant mortality throughout the 19th century made this variety of portraiture common, satisfying the emotional need of the parents to have a lasting memory of a loved one.
Credit line
Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art
Reference
HRM19F77_341
Model release
NA
Property release
NA
License type
Rights managed
Available size
61,3Mb (5,7Mb) / 16,7in x 14,3in / 5000 x 4287 (300dpi)