Portret van Leopold I, koning van België 1853

Curator: Oh, look, this engraving is quite striking. It’s called "Portret van Leopold I, koning van België," created in 1853. It’s an academic rendering of King Leopold I by Lucio Querino Lelli, and is clearly intended to project power. Editor: He definitely looks…severe. Like a headmaster about to scold you for a minor infraction. The monochromatic rendering gives it an austere, almost intimidating feel. Does it work, though? Or is it too heavy-handed? Curator: That severity might just be a sign of the times. Photography was in its infancy, remember, and formal portraiture—even printed like this—carried a lot of weight, meant to convey lineage and authority. Observe how the symbols around him become extensions of his personhood. Editor: Like the crown sitting casually to his side! It's almost comical, staged with the flair of Romanticism and history-painting. And those elaborate decorations! The stiff posture makes it all feel so…calculated. Did people really perceive Leopold I this way? Curator: Public image was everything! What is omitted tells us as much, right? Lucio Querino Lelli crafted this portrait within the norms of academic art to emphasize Leopold's role in the shaping of a young nation. It wasn’t just about likeness but about mythmaking. This portrait served to anchor Leopold I to the history books in very specific ways. Editor: True. It's all very official. Look at the detail in the engraving, though. It is beautiful, in a clinical way. And he almost looks exhausted... or is it world-weariness in those eyes? Curator: Perhaps both? Being king couldn’t have been a day at the beach! Anyway, it serves as an interesting marker in the history of both Belgium and printmaking, before photography started truly taking over this kind of formal portraiture. Editor: Well, I leave with a richer perspective on how rulers construct narratives. Art like this really underlines that for me. Curator: Yes, seeing him now really lets me ponder the ways historical context interacts with representation itself. A simple print unveils a nation’s very constructed persona.