Portret van een onbekende man met baard 1778 - 1781

Heinrich Nether made this tiny etching of an unknown bearded man sometime around 1760. The appeal of this image resides partly in its size. Measuring just 39mm in height, it invites us to come close and consider the figure’s identity. We know very little about Nether himself, but he was working in a period where the print market was exploding. Portraits became increasingly popular as a means of asserting status and commemorating loved ones, moving away from the preserve of royalty and the aristocracy. The question then becomes, who was this man, and why was his image reproduced? Was he a merchant, a member of the clergy, or perhaps even an artist? These are the kinds of questions that social historians ask of artworks. By delving into archives, libraries and other historical resources, we can begin to understand the social conditions that shaped artistic production, and the public roles that art played in the past.