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[Junius Brutus Booth, as Polhemus] – Antique Wall Art

[Junius Brutus Booth, as Polhemus] — historic print
[Junius Brutus Booth, as Polhemus]. Historic print from the Historic Print Archive 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

[Junius Brutus Booth, as Polhemus] comes to life in this historic print, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. The original is held by the Library of Congress, so what you hang is a true record of its time.

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[Junius Brutus Booth, as Polhemus]

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This print shows the young English actor Junius Brutus Booth in the role of Polhemus, a character whose play I can't confirm from the record alone. The 1817 date places the image early in Booth's career, when he was building a reputation in London before he emigrated to the United States in 1821. Mezzotint, the technique used here, was a costly process that rendered soft gradations of light and shadow, which made it well suited to theatrical portraits of stars in character. Such prints were sold to playgoers and collectors who wanted a keepsake of a performer they had seen on stage.

Medium1 print : mezzotint.
Notes[1817]
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,080 × 1,536 px · prints to 4 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-119010

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