1002
drawback was that the light-sensitivity was low, so
as to make portraiture an impossibility. Nevertheless,
albumen on glass may be considered signifi cant as the
prototype for the later wet-collodion process.
In July 1848, he was stationed with the 10th regiment
of dragoons, outside Paris.
In April 1849, he was promoted to Captain of the
Republican Guard of Paris and established a laboratory
at the military barracks located on the rue Mouffetard.
Also in 1849, he received a medal and 2000 francs from
the Société d’Encouragement [Encouragement Society]
and was awarded the Legion d’honneur [Legion of
Honor].
In 1850, he indicated the use of albumen as a bind-
ing agent for paper negatives and positives. He also
introduced improvements to his albumen on glass
process using honey as an accelerator in the iodizing
stage and the application of heat in the sensitizing
stage, which made portraits possible. He also remarked
on the effect of halation, noting how the rear surface
of the glass plate refl ected light back upon the light-
sensitive surface.
Inspired by the work of Edmund Becquerel, in
1849–1852, Niépce de Saint-Victor attempted to
make color photographs using a process he called
héliochromie [heliochromy]. This involved the direct
exposure in the camera of a silver plate coated with
silver chloride, which had been dipped in a weak
solution of sodium hypochlorite, followed by lead
chloride in dextrine. Using this process in 1851–1852,
he obtained colored reproductions of variously colored
subjects like a bouquet of fl owers, a stained glass
window, and dolls with different types of clothing;
however, the images were never adequately fi xed and
the colors soon faded.
By a miracle of preservation, three of Niépce de
Saint-Victor’s heliochromes dating to 1851 survive
today in a close to original state, thanks to their hav-
ing been stored in a light-tight box in the collection of
the Parisian Musée National des Techniques [National
Museum of Technology]. Using low-light level illumi-
nation, these were reproduced as color transparencies
by the museum, and published in 1984 by Bernard
Levebrve. Apart from having turned reddish and faded
slightly, the plates show a successful rendition of origi-
nal colors, the subjects being a detail of a stained glass
window and two studies of dolls.
From 1853–1855, Niépce de Saint-Victor returned to
Nicephore Niépce’s 1820s heliographic process, using
copper plates coated with light-sensitive asphaltum.
Here he was assisted by the engraver François-Augustin
Lemaître, who had also assisted Nicéphore Niépce. By
thinning the asphaltum with benzene, he was able to
obtain much thinner coatings of asphaltum and radically
shorten exposure times in contact printing; however,
the process rendered images which were fl at and dull,
and unable to render delicacy of detail. Similarly, in
copying an original photograph or engraving with a
camera, the resulting image was diffuse and needed to
be re-engraved by hand in order to obtain details.
In 1854, he was appointed Commandant of the Palais
du Louvre by Napoléon III. This also coincided with a
decision to put him on non-active duty, effectively reduc-
ing his salary to one-third of what it had been formerly.
He lived at the Louvre until his death.
From 1857–1859, Niépce de Saint-Victor experi-
mented with reproducing images in different mono-
chromatic colors, which he again called héliochromie
[heliochromy]. Using paper sensitized with uranium
nitrate, in combination with either potassium ferri-
cyanide, cobalt nitrate, or gold chloride, he arrived at
red, green, and violet toned prints. Blue prints were
made with paper feebly sensitized with potassium fer-
ricyanide, followed by a bath of mercuric chloride and
development with oxalic acid.
In the last years of Niépce de Saint-Victor’s life, he
wrote a series of articles on the action of light upon
light-sensitive surfaces. In 1862, he joined the Société
française de photographie [French Society of Photog-
raphy] and donated a number of original negatives and
prints to their collection. In 1861, 1862, and 1863 he
received the Prix Trémont [Tremont Prize]. He died on 6
April 1870 and was buried at the cimitaire Montparnasse
[Montparnasse Cemetery].
Alan GreeneBiography
Abel Niépce de Saint-Victor was born on 26 July 1805
in Saint-Cyr, France. A career offi cer in the army, he
devoted his life to the study of photo-chemistry. In
1848, he introduced the albumen on glass process, a
precursor of the wet-collodion process. In 1851, he
made color photographs on silver plates, which repro-
duced the different colors of the original subjects, but he
never successfully fi xed the images. In the mid-1850s,
he furthered the earlier research of his second cousin,
Nicéphore Niépce, increasing the light-sensitivity of
Niépce’s 1820s heliographic printing process. In the
late 1850s, he discovered ways to make photographic
prints with different monochromatic hues, using ura-
nium nitrate. He wrote numerous articles concerning
his research, in different scientifi c and photographic
journals, throughout the 1840s–1860s. A recipient of the
French Legion d’honneur, as well as many other medals
and prizes, he was commander of the Palais du Louvre
from 1854 until his death on 6 April 1870.See also: Becquerel, Edmond Alexandre; and Niépce,
Joseph Nicéphore.