Lost Daguerreotype Photograph of James Madison and Dolley Madison Postcard For Sale

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Lost Daguerreotype Photograph of James Madison and Dolley Madison Postcard:
$3.00

Now for the first time, see a true likeness of James Madison\'s face in a photograph with his wife Dolley Madison.

James Madison had his life mask cast by John Henri Isaac Browere in October 1825. Due to the lightness of Browere\'s plaster mixture the faces were not distorted and were considered very accurate likenesses. Madison stated of his life mask, Per request of Mr. Browere, busts of myself and of my wife, regarded as exact likenesses, have been executed by him in plaister, being casts made from the moulds formed on our persons, of which this certificate is given under my hand at Montpelier, 19, October, 1825.

There exists in history events and situations that we know occurred but there is no visual record left behind to substantiate the fact. Take the deeply loving and historical relationship of our fourth President James Madison and his equally famous wife, a true first lady, Dolley Madison. Much has been written about the historic couple and their love for each other, but sadly, there are no known paintings commemorating the two together. That, plus the fact James passed before the advent of photography (the daguerreotype), there is no hope of there being a real photograph of the great American couple.

That is until now! Now, through the magic of Adobe Photoshop, we can visualize the two together as they should be. Fortunately, Dolley did live into the age of photography, so we have accurate images of her in her later years. Thus, starting with a high-resolution scan of a daguerreotype featuring Dolley and Anna Payne taken in 1848, Anna was removed. The image was restored to its original sharpness cleaning up of evidence of its years of wear and tear. Then, expanding on my recently done forensic/academic study of the James Madison life mask created by John Henri Isaac Browere (1790—1834) in 1825, combined with meticulous research into the fashion of the day, and photographs of modern action figure dolls for a body, James was added to the illusion. The combination of these elements creates a pleasing portrait of the two.

The major drawback in creating an image of this type are the anachronisms that can be created. For example, in our portrait, the sources for the reconstructed images were created years apart. James was 75 years old when his life mask was made in 1825, and Dolley was 80 years old when the 1848 photograph was taken. The result is that Dolley appears five years senior to James in our portrait when, in reality, James was seventeen years senior to Dolley. See the anachronism – well, I guess James and Dolley were definitely doing the time warp!

Actual card contains NO watermark.

About Digital Yarbs:

I\'m Cheryl A. Daniel (Digital Yarbs) a Photoshop composition artist who enjoys history. I reconstruct life masks, statues and busts of famous early Americans and historic figures. Using life masks, I completed a forensic/academic study of how the subjects most likely appeared using Adobe Photoshop to add flesh, hair, and other details. My site, yarbs.net features reconstructions and animations of these life masks along with a little history and how the subjects might have looked in daguerreotypes and photographs.

About Life Masks:

To understand what these historic figures really looked like we cannot rely on paintings as they suffer from “artistic license” and “sympathetic treatment” commonly employed by many contemporary portrait artists. Before photography, the art form of the life mask was the best way to create an exact likeness of an individual. Basically, plaster would be applied to the head and sometimes upper torso to create a mold from which a life mask or bust of the person could be cast. This would result in a three-dimensional, faithful transfer capturing in minute detail the true likeness of the subject.

Sculptors John Henri Isaac Browere and Jean-Antioine Houdon cast life masks of George, Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and many other historical figures. Thomas Jefferson endorsed his life mask bust, as did James and Dolley Madison when they saw it several days later. James Madison said of his own life mask, \"Per request of Mr. Browere, busts of myself and of my wife, regarded as exact likenesses, have been executed by him in plaister, being casts made from the moulds formed on our persons, of which this certificate is given under my hand at Montpelier, 19, October, 1825.\"

Browere’s casting process utilized a proprietary plaster mixture that due to its lightweight nature did not distort the facial features of his subject’s face as the common plaster utilized by his contemporaries did. This by all accounts resulted in what was considered an extremely accurate likenesses.

J. I. Browere’s “work achieved a stark realism uncommon in that day. His plaster busts showed the age-lined brow, the pock-marked face; his subjects appeared as they were, not as artists generally portrayed them. His life masks were, and remain, the most authentic likenesses of some historic figures who lived in a day before photography provided more easily obtained but similarly uncompromising portraits.\"

Digital Yarbs Items:

My works are available as postcards, high quality archival giclée prints and limited edition canvas prints numbered and signed with certificate of authenticity.

Canvas Prints: Are Limited Edition, Signed and numbered with Certificate of Authenticity. Giclee wrapped canvas 16x20 .75 inch edge, open back with mirror border.

Paper Prints: Are Signed, numbered with Certificate of Authenticity and made of Kodak Professional Endura Premier Lustre paper. My signature on the back is signed with an archival acid free ink pen and the blue logo stamp uses archival acid free ink.

Postcards: Are 4×6 premium matte. Postcards come as a single card, pack of 10, pack of 25, or pack of 50.

Canvases, prints and post cards contain NO watermarks.

Free Shipping within 3-5 business day via USPS.

If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with your item, we will completely refund your order.

Visit yarbs.net for more information on this image and to see more of my works with life masks.

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