Jean Baptiste Louis Gros was a French painter, photographer, and diplomat, born on February 8, 1793, in Ivry-sur-Seine. In the history of Colombian art, Gros is recognized as an eminent mid-nineteenth century landscape painter and a transcendental figure in the development of photography in the country through the introduction of the daguerreotype. His images have contributed not only to the arts, but to other fields of knowledge such as geology and archaeology, by providing visual testimonies of the territory and culture in the countries he visited during his diplomatic missions. He died in Paris on August 17, 1870.