Getting started with the collection:
Post-mortem Portrait of a Woman
anonymous, c. 1845 - c. 1855
The practice of post-mortem photography in the 19th-century was a way of immortalizing the deceased on their deathbed. It kept a beloved dead person close by for a while longer. Particularly daguerreotypy, also known as mirror with a memory, yielded an almost tangible likeness. The little case was opened and the loved one was still there, nearby, and almost touchable.
- Artwork typephotograph, cassette
- Object numberRP-F-2015-33
- Dimensionsheight 95 mm x width 82 mm x thickness 15 mm, height 61 mm x width 49 mm
- Physical characteristicsdaguerreotypie