Mentenich. François, Joseph. 22 ans, né le 3/10/71 à Paris XIIe. Ébéniste. Anarchiste. 2/7/94. 1894

This albumen silver print was made in France around 1894 by Alphonse Bertillon. It is a portrait of François Mentenich, a 22-year-old cabinet maker arrested for being an anarchist. Bertillon was a French police officer and biometrics researcher, who applied the pseudo-science of anthropometry to law enforcement, creating a system of criminal identification based on physical measurements. But why is this photograph now in an art museum? The portrait creates meaning through the subject’s direct gaze, the careful framing, and the handwritten annotations on the print. France in the 1890s was a society deeply divided by class, and haunted by the specter of political violence. In response, the state attempted to use the latest technology to control its population. Historians consult police archives, newspapers, and political pamphlets, to better understand the meaning of images like this. It serves as a reminder of how art and visual culture are always shaped by the social and institutional contexts in which they are made and viewed.