Primary sourcePhotograph1848

Daguerreotype of José de San Martín

Unknown daguerreotypist, Paris · 1848

The only surviving photograph of San Martín, taken in Paris in 1848, showing him as an aged exile two years before his death.

This is the only photograph ever taken of San Martín, made in Paris two years before his death.

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Oval gilt frame behind glass holding a sepia daguerreotype portrait of an elderly man with white hair and a moustache, wearing a dark double-breasted coat, dark cravat and white shirt, seated with one hand resting on his knee. — Daguerreotype of José de San Martín, Paris, 1848. Museo Histórico Nacional, Buenos Aires.

About this source

What it is

This daguerreotype, made by an unknown photographer in Paris in 1848, is the only photograph ever taken of José de San Martín. It is held today by the Museo Histórico Nacional in Buenos Aires and shows him as an elderly man with white hair, seated in a dark coat.

Why it matters

Unlike painted portraits that could idealize their subject, a daguerreotype captures a direct, unretouched likeness. Taken near the very end of his life in exile, this image shows San Martín not as the heroic young general of independence but as an old man, offering a rare, honest record of how he actually looked shortly before his death.

Look closer

How does this photograph differ in feeling from painted portraits of San Martín?
Why might a photograph taken late in someone's life be especially valuable to historians?
What does the daguerreotype's formal pose and setting suggest about how photography was used at the time?

This photograph is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of José de San Martín on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.