Portret van een vrouw en profil 1847

Henricus Franciscus Wiertz made this graphite drawing of a woman in profile at an unknown date. In this exquisitely delicate work, the woman is depicted with careful attention to the fall of light on her face and hair. In order to understand the image, it is useful to remember the social conventions of portraiture in the early 19th century. Artists often portrayed women as objects of beauty and virtue, reinforcing prevailing social norms of the time. The veil, the modest gaze, the neatness of the hair: all these elements would have been understood as markers of feminine respectability. As historians, we might consider the artist’s ties to specific institutions, and whether these affected his production of images. Was he producing an image of a patron? Or was this a speculative work? By researching the artist's life and the social context in which he lived, we can gain a deeper understanding of the complex interplay between art, society, and culture.