Zoological Garden

Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut

1854–56 · Salted paper print from paper negative · Photographs

A judge at the magistrate's court in Lille, France, Dubois de Nehaut left the bench after the rise to power of Napoleon III. He then settled in Brussels in 1851 and pursued his interest in photography. This photograph is from a unique album of thirty-two plates that includes the artist's droll comments about his subjects, the qualities of the prints, and the difficulties he encountered while making them. It is entirely possible that this view of the newly opened zoo in Brussels does not actually record a single exotic bird, reptile, or quadruped-standard fare at such theme parks even in the mid-nineteenth century. It does, however, document the presence of a mammal: a human in the left foreground seated on the sole park bench-a convenient stand-in for the artist contemplating the same enchanting scene.

Artist

Louis-Pierre-Théophile Dubois de Nehaut

Date

1854–56

Medium

Salted paper print from paper negative

Department

Photographs

Credit line

Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005