Sixth Plate

BEFORE . . . Casey removed the filthy glass and brass mat so that this sixth sized masterwork could be properly archivally restored, he and I both wondered if the deceased chap would be showing ?thumbs up? under the brass surround? That would have signified that he and a willing daguerreian were in on producing this splendid illusion. Really readers, if the young man was so handsome in death, he must have been a girl magnet when he lived! Certainly his calm repose resembled a person at rest EXCEPT that his body, propped up with fluffy white pillows, was laid out on a board or tabletop in someone?s sitting room. Just look at that wallpaper in the background. Absolutely miraculous illumination lit the corpse from on high. The shadows that were created on the subject?s three-dimensional face, which was daubed with red pigment, added to his ?living, breathing realism that wasn?t real at all. I honestly can?t remember seeing a subject in such sweet repose after passing on to another realm. This horizontal daguerreotype was a monumental example of posing, exposure and composition! Those stray vertical lines seen in the center of the masterful postmortem are barely noticeable. The complete leather case has an unmarked red silk pad inside.