Jonge vrouw met een duif 1878

Auguste Danse made this print called "Young Woman with a Dove," using etching, in 1875. We see a woman in a patterned robe with a dove in her hands. It’s a scene that seems straightforward, but it’s rich with cultural context. The image creates meaning through visual codes. The woman’s robe seems 'Orientalist' and the dove is a traditional symbol of peace or purity. This was created in Belgium during a time of intense Orientalism. There was a fascination with Asia, but sometimes shading into the exoticization of its cultures and people. At the time, art institutions tended to display an idealized version of other cultures for a European audience. This romantic vision might have more to do with European tastes than the reality of Asian cultures. To understand this work, we would need to delve into the history of Orientalism, and look into what was being shown in museums and world fairs at the time. This print gives us a chance to think about how images shape our understanding of other cultures.