André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri

André Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, firing squad for Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, collodion paper, black and white positive process, image size: height: 5.6 cm; width: 8.9 cm, imprint: recto re. on cardboard: PROPRIÉTÉ EXCLUSIVE DE LA MAISON AUG.te KLEIN, REPROD. PAR DISDÉRI, in black ink: Execution man, shaft b. d. Erschießung, Maximilans; in lead: Slg. Grütter, stamp: verso center: EYE. KLEIN, VIENNA - PARIS, VERIELFALTIGUNG vorbeHalten, photography, execution (military), soldier, group portrait, historical event, situation, With the aim of installing a monarchy dependent on France in Mexico, the Habsburg Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria (1832-1867) was enthroned as Emperor of Mexico at the instigation of Napoleon III in 1864. After the withdrawal of the French in 1866, Maximilian was unable to remain in power. In May 1867, the Emperor was captured by the troops of the legitimate government around Benito Juárez in Querétaro and, after a court-martial judgment, was shot on June 19, 1867, along with his generals Miguel Miramón and Tomás Mejía. The French photographer François Aubert, who was in Mexico at the time, photographed Maximilian's body and his clothing perforated by bullets after his execution. The image of his vest was later reproduced by the successful Parisian photographer André Disdéri (1819-1889) in the popular visit format. Disdéri retouched the frame on which the vest originally hung. In his picture it floats in a vacuum and is elevated to a politically charged relic of the executed emperor. (Sven Schumacher). (Photo by: Sepia Times/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)