The Shirt of the Emperor, Worn during His Execution
"I’m sending you photographs taken at Querétaro after the execution," an anonymous contributor wrote to the Parisian daily Le Figaro in 1867. "These photographs were taken in secret." As conflicting reports of Maximilian I’s execution ricocheted through the international press, photographs circulated like relics, promising proof of the contested event. When Maximilian was appointed Emperor of Mexico by Napoleon III in 1864, François Aubert had followed him across the Atlantic to photograph his court. It was a short gig—the French puppet regime fell just three years later, whereupon Maximilian was swiftly tried and executed by firing squad. Here, Aubert’s postmortem picture suggests a shred of proximity to the man’s final moments.
Artwork Details
- Title: The Shirt of the Emperor, Worn during His Execution
- Artist: François Aubert (French, 1829–1906)
- Date: 1867
- Medium: Albumen silver print from glass negative
- Dimensions: Image: 22.2 × 15.8 cm (8 3/4 × 6 1/4 in.)
- Classification: Photographs
- Credit Line: Gilman Collection, Gift of The Howard Gilman Foundation, 2005
- Object Number: 2005.100.213
- Curatorial Department: Photographs
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François Aubert
1864–69
François Aubert
ca. 1866
François Aubert
ca. 1866
François Aubert
ca. 1866
François Aubert
1867
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