Portret van Liévin Amand Marie de Bast 1827 - 1851

This is Jean-Baptiste Madou’s portrait of Liévin Amand Marie de Bast, created using lithography, a printmaking process that allowed for more affordable and accessible imagery in the 19th century. Madou, who was working in Belgium during a period of significant social and political change, captures de Bast, who, as the inscription tells us, was a member of the Belgian senate, a prominent figure of the time. What does it mean to portray someone in power? How do artists either participate in the construction of an elite identity, or disrupt it? Madou’s lithograph is interesting because prints were often circulated amongst a wide audience. De Bast is portrayed with a somewhat soft face, his hair neatly styled; the very picture of bourgeois respectability. This image presents us with an interesting access point into the visualization of power and status in 19th century Belgium.