Snapshots of the Past

Painted allegorical female figure with serpents in an arched niche – Historic Photo Reproduction

Painted allegorical female figure with serpents in an arched niche, 1850 — historic photograph
Painted allegorical female figure with serpents in an arched niche, 1850. Historic photograph from the Daguerreotypes & Early Photography collection.

(Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Step back in time with Painted allegorical female figure with serpents in an arched niche, a historic photograph rich in period detail. Drawn from the Snapshots of the Past archive, it is an authentic piece of documented history.

Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. A fine choice for anyone who loves history, and a gift that gets noticed. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Snapshots of the Past, founded in 2001, has served tens of thousands of customers worldwide.

Painted allegorical female figure with serpents in an arched niche

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A painted female figure, accompanied by serpents and set within an arched niche, is the subject of this 1850 daguerreotype. Serpents in allegorical painting often stand for wisdom, healing, or temptation, and figures so attended were a staple of academic art of the period. The sitter here is a painting, not a living person, so the image records a work of art rather than a portrait. Daguerreotypes of this kind, made on polished silver-surfaced copper, were prized for their fine detail and mirror-like sheen, which show the brushwork and tonal gradations of the original.

Created / published1850
Original scan977 × 1,536 px · prints to 3 × 5 in at 300 dpi
Reference80_Solomon_Nunes_Carvalho_1850

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