Mathew Brady, 1823-1896
with Juliette Handy Brady
and Mrs. Haggerty
Mathew Brady Studio
Daguerreotype, circa 1851 National Portrait Gallery,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Like so many events in Mathew Brady's life, the exact date of this portrait remains uncertain. It may have been made to celebrate the Bradys' marriage, which probably took place in 1851. By July of that year, Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Brady applied for a passport and sailed for London to see the "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations" at the Crystal Palace, where Brady's daguerreotypes had won a medal. This image demonstrates the qualities that Brady's contemporaries admired, including careful lighting, pleasing symmetry, and natural expressions on the sitters' faces.
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