Daguerreotypes—small, reflective, and delicate photographs that came housed in velvet-lined cases—were designed for private consumption. The unparalleled realism offered by the new medium of photography quickly made it the ideal form for disseminating images of nudity in the mid-nineteenth century. This female model, who lies languidly on a daybed with her back to the camera, is posed to enhance her appeal as an object of fantasy and desire to the viewer. Color was later added by hand to the plate, further augmenting the photograph’s verisimilitude.