BETWEEN SCENES AND PORTRAITS 1
Conservation treatment of MHN special photographs
[Portrait of D. Pedro II] (1850-1859 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
Exhibition presented by
Ministério do Turismo
Secretaria Especial da Cultura
Instituto Brasileiro de Museus – IBRAM
Instituto Cultural Vale
Associação dos Amigos do MHN
Museu Histórico Nacional
[Portrait of D. Maria Pertence (?): stepdaughter of Maestro Francisco Manoel da Silva] (1860-1869 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
The 19th century witnessed numerous inventions. The photography was one of the most emblematic.
From its discovery, in the late 1830s, to the last years of the 20th century - with the emergence of the digital image -, the invention of Daguerre and Niépce was successively improved.
In the past, it would be up to the artist and his brush to portray the world. Now, this role would be played by the photographer and light itself.
[Portrait of a girl] (1860-1879 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
In the industrial age, photography is the image corresponding to the steam engine, whose speed is increasingly present in people's daily lives.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the popularization of the snapshot made possible what was at first unthinkable: it would no longer be necessary to wait long minutes in a static pose to obtain an image with definition.
[Portrait of Luisa de Melo Franco] (1861) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
Museu Histórico Nacional [National Historical Museum] (MHN) guards many photographs, including a collection of special ones, whose processes were precursors in capturing and fixing the image made by light: daguerreotypes, tintypes, ambrotypes.
[International Exhibition of the Centenary of the Independence of Brazil / Rio de Janeiro, 1922: views of the exhibition of the Argentine pavilion]. (1922) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
This set also includes stereograms and some portraits on porcelain. This exhibition presents the conservation treatment upon this rare collection.
[Portrait of unidentified man] (1839 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
The daguerreotype
The daguerreotype was the first photographic process commercialized worldwide. The French Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre and Joseph Nicèphore Niépce worked for 15 years on their invention which was announced in 1839 by François Arago at the Academy of Sciences in Paris.
[Portrait of Cristiano Benedito Ottoni with two of his children] (1855 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
At that moment, such invention meant a real revolution in the way of representing the world. It arrived in Brazil six months later by the hands of Abbot Louis Comte, who portrayed the Paço Imperial (Imperial Palace) and its surroundings for Dom Pedro II.
[Portrait of unidentified man] (1851-1884 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
The ambrotype and the tintype
During the second half of the 19th century, the daguerreotype was gradually replaced by cheaper and more easily commercialized processes, such as ambrotypes and tintypes.
[Portrait of Counselor Antônio Ferreira Viana and three unidentified boys] (1883-1903 (circa)) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
By using, respectively, glass supports and thin iron plates, both present an image formed with silver dispersed in a thin layer of collodion. In general, they were housed in cases and frames, as were the daguerreotypes.
The ambrotype was invented by Frederick Scott Archer in England in 1852. It is a negative that appears to be a positive image due to the aid of dark backgrounds such as fabric, ink or paper.
[Portrait of Zacarias Milhazes] (1886) by N. M. Parente Museu Histórico Nacional
The tintype
The tintype was introduced in 1855. Due to its thin and physically stable support, it was also sold in passe-partout, whose back could contain drawings or information about the photographer.
Stereoscope with stereoscopic image inside (2022) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
Stereogram
The stereoscopy, whose images produce a three-dimensional effect when visualized through a stereoscope, were very fashionable in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
[International Exhibition of the Centenary of the Independence of Brazil / Rio de Janeiro, 1922: views of the exhibition of the Argentine pavilion] (1922) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
The ones we present here depict the Argentine pavillion during the International Exhibition in Rio de Janeiro, in 1922, to celebrate the centenary of Brazil's independence.
[International Exhibition of the Centenary of the Independence of Brazil / Rio de Janeiro, 1922: views of the exhibition of the Argentine pavilion - detail] (1922) by Unknown Museu Histórico Nacional
In fact, the foundation of the MHN took place in the midst of these celebrations, which took place 100 years ago. Like the Museum, these newly recovered stereograms also celebrate their centenary.
Other photographic processes: Opalotype - two opalotypes were identified in the collection, also presented in a case and frame. This is a photographic process which uses silver as the image-forming substance, collodion as the binder and milky glass as its structure.
This is Part 1 of 2. Click here for Part 2.
