Despite today’s controversy regarding several aspects of his legacy, Swiss-born Harvard Professor Louis Agassiz (1807–1873) was one of the most eminent scientists of his time. After his death, Washington-based photographer and amateur naturalist, Henry Ulke (1821–1910), honored his ‘esteemed friend’ which is clear from his personal letter of condolence addressed to Agassiz’s eldest son Alexander, and a posthumous portrait (oil on canvas) dated 1876. In 1877, his portrait was purchased by the United States Capitol, but it was not accepted by the Joint Committee on the Library. Thereafter, it soon went missing and remained unnoticed for nearly 150 years, until the same portrait (or at least a second, original version) was brought to auction in 2013 by heirs of the Ulke family. The painting is based on a rare carte-de-visite photograph, which bears the 1876 backstamp of Henry’s brother, Julius Ulke (1833–1910). Both the painting and the card, undoubtedly depicting Agassiz, were once mislabeled as General Francis E. Spinner, United States Treasurer (1802–1890), probably by Henry’s son, Titus Ulke (1866–1961) or another descendent. The rediscovery of the painting is of major historic and artistic importance. It is now on display in the library of Elasmobranch Research, Belgium.

中文翻译：

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失物招领处：亨利·乌尔克（Henry Ulke）（1876年）遗留的路易斯·阿加西兹（Louis Agassiz）肖像，以及他们之间的引人注目的关系

尽管今天就他的遗产的几个方面存在争议，但出生于瑞士的哈佛大学教授路易斯·阿加西兹（Louis Agassiz，1807–1873年）是他那个时代最杰出的科学家之一。华盛顿去世后，摄影师兼业余博物学家亨利·乌尔克（Henry Ulke，1821-1910年）逝世后，向他的“尊贵朋友”致敬，这是他写给阿加西兹长子亚历山大的慰问信和一张遗腹肖像（画布上的油画） ）的日期是1876年。1877年，他的画像被美国国会大厦购买，但未被图书馆联合委员会接受。此后，它很快就消失了，并在将近150年间未被发现，直到2013年Ulke家族的继承人将同一幅肖像画（或至少第二幅原始版本）拍卖出去。这幅画是基于一张罕见的点菜照片，上面印有亨利（Henry）的哥哥尤利乌斯·乌尔克（Julius Ulke）（1833–1910）1876年的邮票。毫无疑问，这幅画作和卡片都描绘了阿加西斯（Agassiz），曾被错误地贴上美国司库（1802-1890）的弗朗西斯·E·斯宾纳将军的标签，可能是亨利的儿子提图斯·乌尔克（Titus Ulke）（1866–1961）或另一个后代。绘画的重新发现具有重大的历史和艺术意义。现在，它在比利时的Elasmobranch Research图书馆中展出。