Sibiu, Romania/sibiu151
Previous | Home | Next"The mystery of the portrait." This is exhibited in the Museum of Natural History of Sibiu and is claimed to be the portrait of Franz Josef Müller von Reichenstein, the discoverer of tellurium. However, it is impossible for this to be the portrait of someone living 1742-1825. Prior to 1825 (when Franz Josef Müller von Reichenstein lived), men's coats were cut off at the waist. The man in the portrait has a hip length coat; and the lapel and cravat are 1850s-1860s. Furthermore, the portrait is clearly a photograph, mandating a date long after his death in 1825 (the invention of photography -- of the daguerreotype process -- is usually taken as 1839). An example of an early photograph of a scientist is of Berzelius, who died in 1848; a daguerreotype taken of him in 1845 shows the crude photograph process at that time, as well as the style that obviously predated the 1850-1860 period of the present photograph.
