About This Image

With "Agr. at Nadar peint par E. Vieusseux 1871" in black ink or paint at bottom right of image. The original mount was in poor condition, so the image was taken off and remounted to archival paper by noted French conservator Jerome Monnier, who was hired by the original owner.According to the BnF, Nadar began enlarging his negatives about 1865, although the examples in the BnF's own collection date to the 1880s. Only one enlarged painted example from Nadar reportedly exists in the BnF's collection, and another is in the Musee d’Orsay. Only a handful of other enlargements are in the collection. To say that this example offered here is rare, is to greatly understate its importance and uniqueness.Charles-Albert Costa de Beauregard (May 24, 1835 in La Motte-Servolex, Savoie – February 15, 1909 in Paris) was a French historian and politician. He also fought in the Franco-Prussian War. His works include a trilogy on Charles Albert of Sardinia.Great grandson of Joseph Henry Costa de Beauregard and son of Louis Marie Pantaleon Costa, Charles-Albert Costa de Beauregard was general counsel of Savoie from the time of the annexation of the territory to France in 1860.He participated in the Franco-Prussian War as commander of the 1st bataillon des mobiles de la Savoie, and he was wounded and taken prisoner during the Battle of the Lisaine in January 1871. He then ran for the French parliament and was elected as a deputy in 1871, the year that this painted photograph of him in military attire was made, possibly to promote his candidacy.He then retired from politics to devote himself to his writing on the subject of his family history, Savoy and the monarchy. He was a member of the Académie de Savoie, and was its president from 1887 to 1889. He was also elected a member of the Académie Française in 1896.Costa de Beauregard's most important works are a trilogy on King Charles Albert of Savoy, and Historical Memoirs of the Royal House of Savoy, which was a completion of the work begun by his grandfather in 1816.The painting on the photograph is by Emilio Vieusseux (1824-1890), who was an Italian painter. The name E. Vieusseux was clearly attached to the Atelier de Nadar. He was known to paint for the studio and signed several photographs by Nadar, including one of a heads and shoulders portrait of Gustave Eiffel, which is now in the Musee d'Orsay collection. That portrait, which was also on a rare Nadar enlargement, is much more straightforward and not as complex or dramatic as the one of Charles-Albert Costa de Beauregard.Emilio Vieusseux apparently worked in several paint media, including oil, gouache and watercolor. He is described by the BnF as a painter and illustrator, which fits with the production of Nadar's atelier. He was the son of Gian-Pietro Vieusseux (1779-1863), who was a publisher, cultural promoter and guiding liberal figure in Italy, having moved there from Switzerland. Gian-Pietro built an important lending and reading library, and was a major promoter of Italian unity and independence.It has been beautifully custom framed.

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