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to be a successful maker of daguerreotypes. In spite of
the long-time mystery of his name and life, Mestral’s
contribution to the history of photography should not be
underestimated. In 1851, he was one of the forty found-
ing members of the Société héliographique and, three
years later, one of the ninety-three founding members
of the Société française de la photographie. His name
appeared frequently in the pages of the journal of these
associations, La Lumière, especially during the years
1851–1853. The journal reports, for instance, that Mes-
tral announced some technical improvements at several
occasions. It was also written that he was part of a com-
mission responsible for the compilation of the Album de
la Société héliographique, in which all members were
directed to submit their pieces so that progress could
be observed from day to day. In addition, it was stated
that he occupied himself with reproductions on paper
of vast amounts of daguerreotypes.
By that time, Mestral had gained a reputation with
the quality of his portraits, fi rst on daguerreotype, later
on paper. In La Lumière, the critic Francis Wey spoke
of a collection of about 1,200 portraits—none of which
survived or could be identifi ed—and mentioned their
“intimate, familiar and true aspects, which unmistakably
betray[ed] the spiritual kind-heartedness of their author.”
Wey also mentioned some landscapes and he favour-
ably described a view representing the canal sluice in
Thoraise, on the borders of the Doubs, Mestral’s native
region. A similar photograph that survived, taken around
1853, illustrated Mestral’s talents as a landscape pho-
tographer: he succeeded in evoking the play of light on
the foliage and the water surface while structuring the
composition by means of a stable foreground.
Mestral’s name, however, was fi rst and foremost
connected with what later has been labelled the Mis-
sion héliographique. This famous assignment, issued
by the Commission des Monuments Historiques in
1851, consisted of photographing an impressive series
of medieval churches and monuments from classical
antiquity. This impressive task to record the highlights
of French architectural heritage by means of the new
medium of photography, was assigned to fi ve members
of the Société héliographique, who all became key
fi gures in nineteenth century photography: Edouard
Baldus, Hippolyte Bayard, Henri Le Secq, Gustave Le
Gray, and Mestral. It is not clear how Mestral became
involved in the project since he was known for his por-
traits and no references are made to pictures of historical
monuments prior to the 1851 mission. Initially, there
was probably some hesitation among the Commis-
sion as well. At a certain stage in the preparation, his
name disappeared from all documents but, eventually,
Mestral was assigned with the fi fth mission, which in-
cluded photographing monuments in the regions of the
Charente, Dordogne, Gironde, Garonne, Tarn, Aude,
Eastern Pyrenees, Lot, Chorèze, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-
Dôme, Nièvre, and Cher. Mestral, however, decided to
join forces with Le Gray, who was assigned with the
fourth mission, which followed a more western itinerary.
Mestral had close connections with Le Gray, certainly
since 1848 and maybe even since the early 1840s. In
his 1854 treatise on photography, Le Gray mentions
Mestral as one of his pupils and he also made a portrait
of Mestral, which survived. One can only guess about
the specifi c nature of their collaboration for the Mis-
sion but it is probably wrong to assume that Mestral,
who had acquired a reputation at that time, was only
an assistant to Le Gray. Precisely because they joined
forces, they succeeded in taking multiple views of a
single building. Making full use of the new technique
of dry wax paper, which was developed by Le Gray a
few months before, they took about thirty views on aMESTRAL, AUGUSTE
Mestral, Auguste. Angel of the Passion, Sainte-Chapelle, Paris.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gilman Paper Company
Collection, Purchase, The Howard Gilman Foundation Gift,
2002 (2002.9) Image © The Metropolitan Museum of Art.