| Author | G.L. Chrétien |
| Title | [Female portrait] |
| Place | France |
| Date | ca. 1789 |
| Register | 01288 |
The physionotrace technique was invented by Guilles-Louis Chrétien in 1786 and was successful until the advent of photography in 1839. It allowed portraits to be made at a relatively low cost and with the possibility of making a considerable number of copies. After tracing a person's silhouette by transparency on a piece of paper, the portraitist completed this drawing with the rest of the features of the model's face. It was then reduced by means of a pantograph - up to five or seven centimetres in height. Based on this reduced copy, this image was engraved on a copper plate, which would be used to print multiple copies of this portrait, using the etching technique. The physionotrace is considered a precursor of photographic portraiture.
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