USES OF THE DAGUERREOTYPE.
THE Daguerreotype process, as improved by M. CLAUDET, can repre- sent objects all but in motion : a momentary suspension of movement only is necessary to fix the image on the plate, and a transient expres- sion of the countenance is rendered permanent. Several members of the corps de ballet at the Italian Opera lately stood—or rather danced— for their portraits to M. CLAUDET, in postures that could be retained
but for an instant ; such as poising on one toe with the other leg ex- tended, and resting on the points of both feet. These miniatures may be seen at the Adelaide Gallery ; and very curious they are : the whole of the figure, and even groups of two or three dancers, being delineated on a plate two or three inches high, in which the play of the features and the minutest characteristics of the dress are discernible. M. CLAUDET'S collection of likenesses includes the Queen Dowager and other distinguished personages ; but the most interesting of the series to us were those of Mademoiselle RACHEL, in ordinary costume and with her habitual look when in a thoughtful state of quietude: mind and character are so vividly and delicately portrayed, that we could not but wish that the great tragic actress had sat in some of those different states of emotion which her eloquent countenance can express at will -with so much intensity. If there is one thing more than another that the magic power of the Daguerreotype is valuable for, it is this of limning the fleeting shades of expression in the human face : for here the art of the painter, however great his skill, is most at fault ; and it is only in his happiest moments that the artist of genius can transfer to the canvass the indications of lively sensation, strong passion, and pro- found thought, or even of individual character in a quiescent state. Could GARRICK have looked all his characters before the lens of the Daguerreotype, generations would have beheld again and again what was given to his contemporaries to see once and away : CHARLES MATHEWS, who dipped for faces behind his green table and brought up a fresh one every time, would have had nothing to do but to present his various physiognomies successively before the Daguerreotype camera to have them reflected in that retinent mirror. We instance actors in particular, RACHEL having put us on the histrionic track ; and also because, their art consisting in assuming at will certain characters and feelings, the Daguerreotype is peculiarly well adapted to take their portraits in a state of emotion: orators and others could only be so taken unawares, which would be scarcely practicable except in rare in- stances.
But some readers, having a prejudice against the Daguerreotype miniatures, may be ready to protest against their incorrectness as well as their grimness: and this brings us to the point which we are aiming to enforce—namely, the necessity for viewing the photographs through a medium of high magnifying power, not only to correct the slight aberration caused by the diminishing lens of the camera, but to amplify the shadows so as to lessen their density and remove the harshness and blackness consequent thereon. The image is too minute for any but a microscopic scrutiny to develop all its minutix of form ; and, looking at the plate with the naked eye, one does not perceive the object truly and completely, even in point of form. A compensating lens, through which the visiters might view the photographic limnings, and artists might copy them when required, would be a desirable addition to the new arrangements that M. CLAUDET is now making at the Adelaide Gallery for facilitating his operations and promoting the convenience of visiters.
The value of the Daguerreotype as an aid to artists both in land- scape and portraiture is not yet fully appreciated ; nor is the practice of producing prints from photographs so general as it is likely to be- come. We allude not to the experiments of taking impressions from the plates themselves—which the specimens that have been shown, though very imperfect, prove to be not altogether impossible—but to copies from them. A work has been commenced in Paris, called Excursions Daguerriennes, containing views of the principal cities and remarkable places in the world, some numbers of which we have seen in London : the engravings are very neat and accurate copies in aqua- tint of the plates, the size of the originals ; notwithstanding the ab- sence of very minute detail, and the inferiority of the execution to the marvellous delicacy of Nature's image, they are beautiful as works of art, and of course exact representations of the places. Our attention was called to this work by an amateur, who remarked in these plates a peculiarity that is perceptible in these impressions to all conversant with art, but which had not struck us in the Daguerreotype plates themselves : this is, that the highest lights of the picture are in the ground, buildings, or other objects not in the sky ; the brightest clouds being of a lower tone than the rest of the view. This corrects a very prevalent error on the part of artists, who mostly make the brightest light in the sky, whether the sun be in the picture or not— thus losing that aerial effect which is so conspicuous in the engravings from the Daguerreotype plates : this explains the cause of that want of atmospheric effect and of altitude and space in the firmament, which is so capital a defect in some of the ben human representations of nature. TURNER, who imitates atmosphere better than any living artist, does so often at the expense of the solidity of the earth and the palpable aspect of the water : all the elements in some of his pictures are alike insubstantial. This is only one of many hints towards the attainment of truth and exactness of imitation that the Daguerreotype affords ; another being that demonstration of the complete consistency of minuteness of detail with broad general effect—which proves the fal- lacy of the notion that breadth can only be attained by sacrificing de- Bunion of objects. There is one defect in the Excursions Daguerriennes- the engravings are too small, appearing to be only the size of the ori- ginals: now it is obvious that no copy, however carefully and deli- berately executed, can come up to the exquisite minuteness of the light- formed image ; and we have shown, that in order to perceive all that is contained therein it is necessary to use a magnifying-glass : how much more essential is it, therefore, that in engraving the image, the engraver should copy it through a powerful lens. In portraiture this is espe- cially needful, to get rid of the dark and strongly-defined shadows, and to correct the slight distortion of form in the image : we may instance the lithographic portrait of STAUDIGL, which is an enlarged copy from a photographic miniature as an instance of the animated truth and agree- ableness of a likeness produced by these means. We would recommend M. CLAUDET to get enlarged litographs made from his miniatures of RACHEL, CERITO, &c., by competent artists. It would be a pleasing addition to the Daguerreotype-room of the Adelaide Gallery, if a num- ber of magnifying-glasses were fitted up, through which visiters might look at views of interesting places, as at the Cosmorama.
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