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[Napoleon III and the Prince Imperial]

Pierre-Louis Piersonabout 1859

The J. Paul Getty Museum

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Los Angeles, United States

The Prince Imperial, son of Napoleon III, sits strapped securely into a seat on his horse's back, a model subject for the camera. An attendant at the left steadies the horse so that the little prince remains picture-perfect in the center of the backdrop erected for the photograph. The horse stands upon a rug that serves as a formalizing element, making the scene appear more regal. The Emperor Napoleon III himself stands off to the right in perfect profile, supervising the scene with his dog and forming a framing mirror-image of the horse and attendant on the other side.

Pierre-Louis Pierson placed his camera far enough back from the Prince to capture the entire scene and all the players, but this was not the version sold as a popular carte-de-visite. The carte-de-visite image was cropped so that only the Prince upon his horse was visible.

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  • Title: [Napoleon III and the Prince Imperial]
  • Creator: Pierre Louis Pierson
  • Date Created: about 1859
  • Physical Dimensions: 21 × 16 cm (8 1/4 × 6 5/16 in.)
  • Type: Print
  • External Link: Find out more about this object on the Museum website.
  • Medium: Albumen silver print from a wet collodion glass negative
  • Terms of Use: Open Content
  • Number: 84.XM.705.1
  • Culture: French
  • Credit Line: The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
  • Creator Display Name: Pierre Louis Pierson (French, 1822 - 1913)
  • Classification: Photographs (Visual Works)
The J. Paul Getty Museum

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