{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O91308"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O91308/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF0713/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2006AF0713/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2006AF0713","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006AF0711","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2006BC0576","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false},{"assetRef":"2022NG1351","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O91308/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O91308","accessionNumber":"40849","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Skeleton of Man and of the Male Gorilla (Troglodytes Gorilla)","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"When this photograph was taken, Roger Fenton was the official photographer at the British Museum. (The British Museum then held the collections that now comprise the Natural History Museum.) The human skeleton depicted is of no special significance, apart from the fact that it is probably of a European. The gorilla, however, shows evidence of severe trauma to its left arm - a bite from a lion to the lower part of its left humerus. Gorillas do not spend much time ‘standing’ upright because it takes muscle energy for them to do so. Thus, the supposedly ‘neutral’ presentation of a gorilla skeleton is in fact the presentation of an idea: ‘a gorilla standing is not too different from a human standing’.","physicalDescription":"Two skeletons photographed side by side for comparative purposes. Printed with Fenton's credit.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Fenton, Roger","id":"A7250"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"AAT25687"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"paper","id":"x30308"}],"techniques":[{"text":"salted paper processes","id":"AAT53495"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Salted paper print mounted on printed card","categories":[{"text":"Death","id":"THES48970"},{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"},{"text":"Science","id":"THES48898"}],"styles":[{"text":"art photography","id":"AAT178594"}],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2006AF0713","2006AF0711","2006BC0576","2022NG1351"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"LVLF","id":"THES49656"},"free":"","case":"X","shelf":"13.1","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"c.1855","earliest":"1850-01-01","latest":"1859-12-31"},"association":{"text":"photographed","id":"x30151"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[{"object":{"text":"40850","id":"O1077972"},"association":"Pair"}],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"36.5","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"28","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph by Roger Fenton, 'Skeleton of Man and of the Male Gorilla (Troglodytes Gorilla)', salted paper print, c.1855","bibliographicReferences":[{"reference":{"text":"Donald, Diane, and Jane Munro, <i>Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, Natural Science, and the Visual Arts</i>, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009.","id":"AUTH348615"},"details":"","free":""},{"reference":{"text":"","id":""},"details":"","free":"Taken from Photography Department index card catalogue"}],"production":"Fenton was official photographer at the British Museum at this time\n\nReason For Production: Retail","productionType":{"text":"Unlimited edition","id":"THES48868"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"Disciplines","id":"AAT54134"},{"text":"Natural history","id":"AAT251095"},{"text":"gorilla","id":"x37953"},{"text":"skeleton","id":"AAT191778"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Gallery 100, ‘History of photography’, 2011-2012, label text : \r\n\r\nRoger Fenton (1819-69)\r\n‘Skeleton of Man and of the Male Gorilla\r\n(Troglodytes Gorilla)’\r\nAbout 1855\r\n\r\nA leader in the first generation of photographers,\r\nFenton was the official photographer at the British\r\nMuseum, which held the collections that today\r\ncomprise the Natural History Museum. Photography\r\nrapidly became a valuable aid to scientific research.\r\nThe ape skeleton has been reconstructed in a\r\nmore upright form than natural to emphasise the\r\nsimilarities between humans and apes. The gorilla’s\r\nleft arm shows evidence of a lion bite.\r\n\r\nSalted paper print\r\nMuseum no. 40.849\r\n","date":{"text":"07 03 2014","earliest":"2014-03-07","latest":"2014-03-07"}}],"partNumbers":["40849"],"accessionNumberNum":"40849","accessionNumberPrefix":"","accessionYear":null,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-04-12","recordCreationDate":"2004-02-07","availableToBook":false}}