Sèriè à la Ristori 1860s

Pierre-Louis Pierson made this albumen silver print, titled Sèriè à la Ristori, in France, sometime in the mid-19th century. This is a photograph of the Countess de Castiglione, a celebrity socialite, in character as the tragic actress Adelaide Ristori. The Countess was a prominent figure in the court of Napoleon III, and was known for her beauty and extravagance. Here, she is dressed in costume, evoking the style of a celebrated stage performer. In staging this portrait, Pierson and de Castiglione participated in the culture of celebrity that emerged in the 19th century, fuelled by new forms of mass media such as photography. De Castiglione’s highly cultivated persona was as much a performance as Ristori’s, as both women capitalized on the rising status of actresses and female performers in the cultural imagination. To fully understand the photograph’s significance, we need to look into a range of sources, including the history of photography, theatre, and the social dynamics of the Second Empire. In this way, we can begin to appreciate how photography contributed to the shaping of social identities and the cult of celebrity.