Darwin oder Moses?

Abstract

This essay aims to describe how Charles Darwin became an icon of evolutionary theory in the nineteenth century. As will be shown his beards played a key role in his portrait’s success; on the material side it was the photographic carte de visite that provided the basis for its popularity. Following the invention of the carte de visite in 1854 the little cards with imprinted photographs became popular in the whole of Europe, reaching millions of copies in circulation. Mostly these cards would show celebrities such as monarchs or actors. However, among scientists it was common practise to send and receive each others’ portraits. These images were collected in photographic albums of which three have survived in the Stazione Zoologica di Anton Dohrn in Naples and the Darwin Museum in Downe. Examining those albums and appendant letters it can be shown that Darwin’s picture not only became an icon in the popular realm but also in the scientific community. More generally, photographic portraits were a replacement for personal aquaintanceship in an ever-expanding community. In contrast to the use of photographs in the service of “mechanical objectivity” these photographs were used to sustain subjectivity and personal relations.