William Henry Fox Talbot
Bust of Patroclus

Bust of Patroclus

Public Domain

Bust of Patroclus
ArtistBritish, 1800–1877
CultureBritish
Titles
  • Bust of Patroclus
DateAugust 9, 1843
MediumSalted paper print from paper negative
DimensionsImage: 5 3/4 × 5 5/8 in. (14.6 × 14.2 cm)
 Sheet: 5 3/4 × 5 5/8 in. (14.6 × 14.3 cm)
 Mount: 12 1/4 × 9 3/4 in. (31.1 × 24.8 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mike and Mickey Marvins
Object number2015.619
Non exposé

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Department
Photography
Special Collections
Object Type
DescriptionWhen William Henry Fox Talbot first announced his process for paper photography in 1839, the process required exposures too long to be practical for portraiture; his new art was better suited to subjects that did not move—landscape, architecture, or still life. Talbot’s plaster cast of a Hellenistic marble bust of Achilles’s comrade Patroclus provided an animated and expressive substitute for the live model, and he photographed it more than forty-five times between 1839 and 1843, when this version was made. This particular print was once plate 17 in a copy of Talbot’s The Pencil of Nature, the first photographically illustrated book, published in parts between 1844 and 1846. Although Talbot’s improved process was by then capable of recording portraits, he included none in his volume, but instead chose two photographs of this plaster bust.
Provenance[Daniel Wolf Gallery, New York]; [Cronin Gallery, Houston]; purchased by Michael Marvins and Michele Marvins, Houston, 1970s; given to MFAH, 2015.
Exhibition History“A Photographer’s Collection: Gifts from Michael and Michele Marvins,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 4–July 5, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks
verso of mount lower right in ink: LA17; bottom right corner in pencil: ICP 506
printed bottom right corner on the image: [illegible] 1843
Catalogue raisonnéSC3664

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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V. Bust of Patroclus.
William Henry Fox Talbot
V. Bust of Patroclus.
August 9, 1842
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.5
XVII. Bust of Patroclus.
William Henry Fox Talbot
XVII. Bust of Patroclus.
August 9, 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2020.346.10
The Bridge of Sighs, St. John's College, Cambridge
William Henry Fox Talbot
The Bridge of Sighs, St. John's College, Cambridge
1845
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.689
The Bridge of Orleans
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The Bridge of Orleans
June 14, 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.694
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The Bridge of Orleans
June 14, 1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.693
Nelson's Column under Construction, Trafalgar Square, London
William Henry Fox Talbot
Nelson's Column under Construction, Trafalgar Square, London
April 1844
Salted paper print from paper negative
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Image non disponible pour [Portrait of Nicholaas Hennemen]
William Henry Fox Talbot
[Portrait of Nicholaas Hennemen]
c. 1843, printed 1995
Salted paper print from paper negative, printed Michael and Barbara Gray
95.79
Bush of Hydrangea in Flower
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Bush of Hydrangea in Flower
1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.692
An Aged Red Cedar in the Grounds of Mount Edgcumbe
William Henry Fox Talbot
An Aged Red Cedar in the Grounds of Mount Edgcumbe
1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.687
The Fruit Sellers
William Henry Fox Talbot
The Fruit Sellers
1843
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.695
Winter Trees, Reflected in a Pond
William Henry Fox Talbot
Winter Trees, Reflected in a Pond
1842
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.686
Articles of Glass
William Henry Fox Talbot
Articles of Glass
1844
Salted paper print from paper negative
2004.690