Mexican carte-de-visite portrait album from the era of Maximilian and Napoleon III, between 1854 and 1870

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Summary

Creators:
Aubert, François
Abstract:
The album of carte-de-visite portraits was compiled by an unidentified person, most likely of French nationality, during or shortly after the period known as the French intervention in Mexico (1861-1867) when the French invaded and ruled that country, establishing Maximilien, Archduke of Austria, as Emperor of Mexico. It includes photographs by several photographers active in France or Mexico such as François Aubert and André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri.
Extent:
1 album(s) (113 photographic prints)
Language:
Collection material is in French.
Preferred citation:

Mexican carte-de-visite portrait album from the era of Maximilian and Napoleon III, between 1854 and 1870, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 92.R.8

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa92r8

Background

Scope and content:

The album of 112 albumen cartes-de-visite and one cabinet card features portraits of Emperor Maximilian, Empress Carlota, and Napoleon III, as well as other key figures in the period known as the French intervention in Mexico (1861-1867) when the French invaded Mexico and ultimately installed Ferdinand Maximilian Archduke of Austria as Maximilian I Emperor of Mexico. Many portraits are of French and Mexican political and military leaders such as General Élie Frédéric Forey, the original commanding general of the French expeditionary corps to Mexico and his successor, Marshall Achille Bazaine; and Generals Miguel Negrete, a hero of the first Battle of Puebla and Jesús González Ortega, who played a key role in the second battle of Puebla.

Mexican heads of state depicted include Agustín de Iturbide I, Emperor of Mexico and seven presidents: Antonio López de Santa Anna; José Mariano de Salas; Mariano Arista; Juan Álvarez; Ignacio Commonfort; Miguel Miramón; and Benito Juárez. Photographic reproductions of portraits of figures related to the first Mexican Empire and the Mexican War of Independence include Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla; Agustín de Iturbide; José María Morelos; and Vicente Guerrero.

Other portraits are of diplomats to Mexico from Austria, England, Spain, and Belgium. Members of the Maximilan's court and Mexican elites are also represented. Portraits of cultural figures include novelist and poet Ignacio Manuel Altamirano and journalist and political and military leader V. Riva Palacio.

A group of photographs by François Aubert taken at Querétaro, where Maximilian was garrisoned after the French army wihdrew from Mexico and where he was eventually executed, includes a posed group portrait of the firing squad taken after Maximilian's execution, and three images of Maximilian's bullet-riddled clothing (one of his jacket and two of his vest). Also present is a portrait of Colonel Miguel López, the Mexican officer and courtier who betrayed Maximilian at Querétaro, and one of General Miguel Miramón, was executed along with Maximilian and General Tomás Mejía. Several views of Querétaro and other sites are also included.

Photographers represented in the album include: G. Malovich; Pierre-Louis Pierson; Agustín Peraire; L. Lebert; Augustin-Aimé- Joseph Le Jeune; Serge Lvovich Levitsky; François Aubert; G. Jägermayer; André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri; and Robert J. Bingham.

The album is bound in black leather album with a silver clasp and cover shield; five cabinet card openings are empty. Titles for the individual images are from the French captions written below the images, unless otherwise noted. The information on the versos of the mounts, or under the openings is not recorded, as access to it is obscured.

Sources consulted:

Debroise, Olivier. Mexican Suite: A History of Photography in Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2001.

Planteaux, Serge. "Agustin Peraire: Documenting the Execution of Emperor Maximilian." Weekly transmisison 43-2017. https://issuu.com/sergeplantureux/docs/pwt_43-2017_agustin_peraire_1867

Wilson-Bareau, J. et al. Manet: The Execution of Maximilian: Painting, Politics and Censorship. London: The National Gallery, 1992.

Biographical / historical:

The album was compiled by an unidentified person, most likely of French nationality, during or shortly after the time of the French Intervention in Mexico.

Acquisition information:
Acquired in 1992.
Processing information:

Processed and cataloged by Beth Ann Guynn; finding aid encoded by Holly Larson with grant funding from the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). Guynn expanded the finding aid in 2021.

Arrangement:

The collection is arranged in a single series: Series I. Mexican carte-de-visite portrait album from the era of Maximilian and Napoleon IIII, between 1854 and 1870.

Physical location:
Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Executions and executioners -- Mexico -- Querétaro
Hidalgo y Costilla, Miguel, 1753-1811 -- Portraits
Guerrero, Vicente, 1782-1831 -- Portraits
Juárez, Benito, 1806-1872 -- Portraits
Iturbide, Agustín de, 1783-1824 -- Portraits
Altamirano, Ignacio Manuel, 1834-1893 -- Portraits
Generals -- Mexico -- Portraits
Carlota, Empress, consort of Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 1840-1927 -- Portraits
Bazaine, François-Achille, 1811-1888 -- Portraits
Santa Anna, Antonio López de, 1794?-1876 -- Portraits
Diplomats -- Mexico -- Portraits
Morelos, José María, 1765-1815 -- Portraits
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French, 1808-1873 -- Portraits
López, Miguel, 1825-1891 -- Portraits
Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, 1832-1867 -- Portraits
Cartes-de-visite -- Mexico -- 19th century
Cartes-de-visite -- France -- 19th century
Cartes-de-visite -- Belgium -- 19th century
Cabinet photographs -France -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- France -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Mexico -- 19th century
Cartes-de-visite -- Germany -- 19th century
Studio portraits -- Mexico -- 19th century
Photograph albums -- Mexico -- 19th century
Studio portraits -- France -- 19th century
Names:
Pierson, Pierre-Louis, 1822-1913
Bingham, Robert J.
Lebert, L.
Disdéri, André-Adolphe-Eugène, 1819-1889
Levitsky, 1819-1898
Jägermayer, G.
Peraire, Agustín
Le Jeune, Augustin-Aimée-Joseph, active 1865-1880
Places:
Querétaro (Mexico) -- History -- Siege, 1867
Mexico -- Biography -- Portraits
Mexico -- History -- 1821-1861 -- Portraits
France -- History -- Second Empire, 1852-1870 -- Portraits
Mexico -- History -- European intervention, 1861-1867 -- Portraits

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Terms of access:

Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.

Preferred citation:

Mexican carte-de-visite portrait album from the era of Maximilian and Napoleon III, between 1854 and 1870, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 92.R.8

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa92r8

Location of this collection:
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, CA 90049-1688, US
Contact:
(310) 440-7390
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