This headshot of an unidentified Civil War era gentleman has always reminded me of Herman Melville's immortal character, Captain Ahab, in his masterpeice Moby Dick. Actually, the man's face bears a striking resemblance to the late brillant actor Gregory Peck, who gave one of his very best performances in the captivating 1956 film adaptation of Melville's novel.
"Captain Ahab stood erect, looking straight out beyond the ship's ever-pitching prow. There was an infinity of firmest fortitude, a determinate, unsurrenderable wilfulness, in the fixed and fearless, forward dedication of that glance. Not a word he spoke; nor did his officers say aught to him; though by all their minutest gestures and expressions, they plainly showed the uneasy, if not painful, consciousness of being under a troubled master-eye. And not only that, but moody stricken Ahab stood before them with a crucifixion in his face; in all the nameless regal overbearing dignity of some mighty woe."
(Moby Dick, Chapter 28)
Who the guy in this picture was we'll never really know, but the photographer's backmark on the reverse side of the image tells us that it was taken at the studio of Robert J. Chute at 13 Tremont Row in downtown Boston, not in New Bedford!
2 comments:
Great Pic Chris. Where did you get this pic from? Was it a Ceci find?
Huh. To me he looks like an extra in Tim Burton's remake of Planet of the Apes.
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