Fotoreproductie van Madonna met het puttertje door Rafaël 1850 - 1900

This is a reproduction of Raphael’s “Madonna with the Goldfinch,” created as a photograph by Gustav Schauer, sometime in the 19th century. Considered in its time to be the height of artistic and cultural achievement, the Renaissance’s near obsession with beauty and perfection was expressed through its idealization of the human form, and can be seen in the soft rendering of Mary, John the Baptist, and the Christ Child. Yet, in the 19th century, Schauer reproduced this iconic image with a relatively new technology, photography, thus changing its status, availability, and perhaps even its aura. By democratizing the image through reproduction, Schauer’s photograph invites us to reflect on the changing perception and accessibility of Renaissance ideals in a rapidly modernizing world. How might the easy access to images affect our emotional or intellectual connection to them? What is gained and lost in this process?