Portret van Friedrich Wilhelm III van Pruisen 1798

Curator: Here we have Johann Friedrich Tielker's 1798 engraving, "Portret van Friedrich Wilhelm III van Pruisen," or "Portrait of Frederick William III of Prussia." What are your initial thoughts on this work? Editor: It strikes me as delicate, almost ethereal. The cloud-like background coupled with the precision of the engraved portrait creates a fascinating tension. Curator: Indeed. Tielker produced this print during a period of significant political and social upheaval in Europe. The portrait itself becomes an assertion of power in the face of that instability. Consider Friedrich Wilhelm III, whose reign began just a year before this work was created. Editor: Right, the very *making* of the image supports a particular social order. Who had access to commissioning or creating such portraits? What type of skilled labor was required, and who did it? This all builds into the image. Curator: Absolutely. This isn’t just an image of a king; it’s a manufactured representation of idealized kingship at the twilight of absolute monarchy. Notice the Neoclassical style with its emphasis on order and reason, an attempt to legitimize royal authority during the Enlightenment. It also calls attention to questions of visibility. How did gender, race, or class play a role? Editor: The technique of engraving allowed for reproduction and wider circulation of these carefully constructed images. We’re seeing the early days of political image management—a King marketed through meticulous manual work and precise production. Even something like paper costs would dictate who could access this image and who this figure of power would be “seen” by. Curator: Exactly. It reminds us that portraits weren't neutral likenesses; they were political tools. To view art like this is to think about whose histories are privileged and what it really means to make an image “historical." Editor: Reflecting on it, the visual softness almost lulls you in. It masks a firmer, material process and an active promotion of the power and class structures of the day.