Portret van Georg Gustav Fülleborn 1803

Gottfried August Thilo created this print of Georg Gustav Fülleborn. The engraving is from the late 18th or early 19th century, a time of significant change in European intellectual life. Fülleborn was a professor at the Elisabethan Gymnasium in Breslau, now Wrocław in Poland. Such institutions played a key role in shaping minds. This portrait would have contributed to his public image. Consider how the print medium enabled wider circulation of images and ideas. This portrait would likely have served as a public statement, reinforcing the subject's status and authority within the academic and social hierarchy. Understanding this portrait requires delving into the history of education, the rise of the professional class, and the social function of portraiture in the German-speaking lands. Accessing archives and libraries helps one contextualize this image within the broader history of intellectual and social life.