Self-Portrait with Daguerreotype of the Roman Forum

For the wealthy Swiss amateur Jean-Gabriel Eynard, photography was a source of personal and familial amusement. He learned the daguerreotype process in Paris in the early 1840s and, aided by his gardener, Jean Rion, went on to create one of the most significant bodies of daguerreian work to survive. His engagement with photography would span more than twenty years.

In a series of more than one hundred daguerreotypes, Eynard, with Rion's assistance, sensitively recorded the multiple aspects of his daily existence at the Chateau Eynard in Geneva. For this self-portrait, he posed himself in the company of Daguerre's manual, a framed daguerreotype of the temples of Saturn and Divine Vespasian in the Roman Forum, and a bronze statue.

Adapted from Weston Naef, The J. Paul Getty Museum Handbook of the Photographs Collection (Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 1995), 35-36. © 1995 The J. Paul Getty Museum.