Portrait photograph of Antoni Gaudí, 1878

What it is

This black-and-white studio portrait shows Antoni Gaudí as a bearded young man with short combed-back hair, wearing a tweed jacket, turned three-quarters toward the camera. It was taken on 15 March 1878 by the photographer Pau Audouard Deglaire.

Why it matters

This is one of the rare surviving images of Gaudí from early in his life, taken not long after he qualified as an architect. It gives students a direct, contemporary look at the man himself, long before he became known for his famous Barcelona buildings.

Look closer

• What does Gaudí's clothing and pose suggest about how people wanted to be presented in formal photographs of this period?
• Why might a studio portrait like this have been commissioned?
• How does this early image compare with how Gaudí is usually pictured later in life?