Portret van Albrecht Wolfgang Graf zu Schaumburg-Lippe 1728 - 1767

Editor: Here we have Johann Martin Bernigeroth's "Portret van Albrecht Wolfgang Graf zu Schaumburg-Lippe," made sometime between 1728 and 1767, a print consisting of etching and engraving on paper. It's striking how much detail Bernigeroth was able to get with etching and engraving alone! What should we make of a portrait done in print form, in terms of its creation and reception? Curator: Precisely. It's crucial to consider this portrait not just as an image of a count, but as a produced object, conceived and consumed in a specific socio-economic framework. Think about the materiality of printmaking. Engraving and etching were labor-intensive, requiring specialized skills and workshops. Editor: So the creation of this artwork relied on many different laborers, from the artist, to the paper maker and more... Curator: Yes! And consider the implications of *printing* a portrait. Unlike a unique painted portrait commissioned exclusively for the sitter or his family, a print suggests wider distribution and a different kind of viewership. It speaks to notions of status and power made available – though likely at a cost – to a broader segment of society. Were these prints a means of disseminating the count's image, and if so, to what end? Who was the target audience? Editor: That makes me rethink my initial assumptions about portraiture as purely commemorative. It's much more tied into labor and capital, than I thought! Curator: Exactly! Look closer: the aging of the paper stock, itself a crafted material; the specific techniques of line engraving chosen... all contribute to the artwork's meaning as a produced, circulated, and consumed commodity, one tied directly to both the subject *and* its audience's aspirations. Editor: I never considered the economic implications and access granted through printing! It reshapes how I view portraiture altogether. Curator: Understanding art through its production and circulation reveals complex social relationships otherwise obscured by conventional aesthetic analysis.