Fotoreproductie van De graflegging van Christus door Antoine Wiertz before 1868

This is a photographic reproduction by Edmond Fierlants, made in Belgium in the mid-19th century, of Antoine Wiertz's painting, "The Entombment of Christ." Considered through a social lens, photography in the 1800s served to democratize art. Before, access to masterworks was limited to those who could afford travel or original paintings. Fierlants' photograph allowed a wider audience to contemplate Wiertz’s dramatic, Romantic interpretation of Christ's burial. This distribution through photography also subtly shifted the role of art. It moved from being a unique, revered object to something reproducible and widely accessible. To understand the full impact, we can delve into archives, exhibition records, and period publications. This will help us see how new technologies, and the institutions that supported them, shaped artistic appreciation in the 19th century.