Snapshots of the Past

[G.P.A. Healy, half-length portrait, facing front] – Vintage Wall Art

[G.P.A. Healy, half-length portrait, facing front], [between 1844 and 1860] — historic photograph
[G.P.A. Healy, half-length portrait, facing front], [between 1844 and 1860]. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

This historic photograph of [G.P.A. Healy, half-length portrait, facing front] brings a moment of history to your wall. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. It brings character to any room and makes a memorable gift. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past has been bringing history to the wall since 2001, for tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

[G.P.A. Healy, half-length portrait, facing front]

Order a print

Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal

Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.

Sign up for our newsletter

Sent securely. No purchase needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

Ask about licensing or this print

George Peter Alexander Healy, the Boston-born painter who went on to paint many presidents and other public figures, sits here in a half-length pose turned toward the camera. Made in Mathew Brady's studio between 1844 and 1860, this half-plate daguerreotype has been gold toned, which warms its silver surfaces and deepens the shadows. Painters of the period often worked from portraits like this one when preparing canvases, so the plate offers a glimpse of how a working artist was recorded at the height of the daguerreotype era. Its transfer from the U.S. War College in 1920 helps explain how it reached the Library of Congress.

Created / published[between 1844 and 1860]
Medium1 photograph : half plate daguerreotype, gold toned.
GenrePortrait photographs 1840-1860.Daguerreotypes 1840-1860.
NotesLikeness resembles that of an original photograph labeled Healy, Wm., in the Hoxie collection, Library of Congress, and the engraving in National Encycl. of Amer. Biography. Manuscript ink label on mat: Healy. Scratched on back of plate: 398. Facing the light / Pfister. Washington : Smithsonian Institution Press, 1978, p. 325. Transfer; U.S. War College; 1920; (DLC/PP-1920:46153). Forms part of: Daguerreotype collection (Library of Congress). Produced by Mathew Brady's studio. Exhibit loan 4116-L.
SubjectsHealy, G. P. A. (George Peter Alexander),--1813-1894.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,250 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
Reference190_GPA_Healy_halflength_po_1844

More from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection

Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.

Related pictures

[Gerard Hallock, half-length portrait, facing front, with chin whiskers][Gerard Hallock, half-length portrait, facing front, with chin whiskers][Ezra Bartlett French, half-length portrait, facing front][Ezra Bartlett French, half-length portrait, facing front][Cornelius Mathews, half-length portrait, facing front, wearing spectacles][Cornelius Mathews, half-length portrait, facing front, wearing spectacles][Isaiah Lukens, half-length portrait, facing front][Isaiah Lukens, half-length portrait, facing front][John Y. Mason, half-length portrait, nearly facing front][John Y. Mason, half-length portrait, nearly facing front][Levi Woodbury, half-length portrait, facing front, wearing judicial robes][Levi Woodbury, half-length portrait, facing front, wearing judicial robes]