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Photo, Print, Drawing Matei Millo Portraying an Old Boyar.

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About this Item

Title

  • Matei Millo Portraying an Old Boyar.

Summary

  • Károly Szathmári (1812--87) was one of the most interesting and prolific artistic figures active in Romania in the 19th century. Trained as a painter, he also excelled as a lithographer and became the most important Romanian photographer of his day. He was the first Romanian awarded the title of "Painter and Photographer of the Court," by the ruler Alexandru Ioan I Cuza and then by Carol I, King of Romania. Szathmári was an assiduous traveler in Western Europe and the vast territories of the Ottoman Empire. He documented the battlefields of the Russian and Turkish armies near the Danube River in the spring of 1854, for which he is now recognized as the first war photographer. His famous studio in Bucharest was visited by the elite of Romanian society, who were keen to have a fashionable photographic portrait. Shown here is a photograph of Matei Millo (1814--96) in theatrical costume, dressed to play the role of Un Batran Boier (an old boyar) in Prăpăstiile Bucureştiului (The gorges of Bucharest), a play that Millo also wrote. Millo was a well-known actor, theater director, playwright, and drama professor who played an important role in the development of the National Theater in Romania. Trained as an actor in Paris in 1840--45, he was an active participant in the revolutionary movement for the unification of Moldavia and Wallachia and the struggle of the Romanian peoples to develop a national literature and culture in their own language. He wrote the libretto of the first Romanian operetta, Baba Hârca, in which he also starred when it was first performed at the National Theater in Iaşi on December 26, 1848. The work was an artistic cooperation with another revolutionary of 1848, the poet and playwright Vasile Alecsandri, which resulted in the creation of iconic characters that satirized aspects of a society undergoing the strains of modernization. Károly Szathmári wanted to immortalize these characters through his photography, and he invited Matei Millo, on several occasions, to pose in the costumes he wore in his most famous roles.

Names

  • Szathmári Pap, Károly, 1812-1887 Photographer.

Created / Published

  • Bucharest : [publisher not identified], 1864.

Headings

  • -  Romania
  • -  1864
  • -  Actors
  • -  Aristocracy (Social class)
  • -  Costumes
  • -  Drama
  • -  Dramatists
  • -  Millo, Matei, 1814-1896
  • -  Portrait photographs
  • -  Portraits
  • -  Romanian drama
  • -  Theatrical producers and directors
  • -  Theatrical productions

Notes

  • -  Title devised, in English, by Library staff.
  • -  Original resource extent: 1 photograph : albumen print, carte-de-visite ; 6.4 x 10.3 centimeters.
  • -  Original resource at: National Library of Romania.
  • -  Content in Romanian.
  • -  Description based on data extracted from World Digital Library, which may be extracted from partner institutions.

Medium

  • 1 online resource.

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • 2021670878

Online Format

  • compressed data
  • pdf
  • image

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

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Credit Line: [Original Source citation], World Digital Library

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Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Szathmári Pap, Károly, Photographer. Matei Millo Portraying an Old Boyar. Romania, 1864. [Bucharest: Publisher Not Identified] Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670878/.

APA citation style:

Szathmári Pap, K. (1864) Matei Millo Portraying an Old Boyar. Romania, 1864. [Bucharest: Publisher Not Identified] [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2021670878/.

MLA citation style:

Szathmári Pap, Károly, Photographer. Matei Millo Portraying an Old Boyar. [Bucharest: Publisher Not Identified] Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/2021670878/>.