Portret van Petronella Moens 1824 - 1826

This is Willem van Senus' portrait of Petronella Moens, an engraving made sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. The oval frame emphasizes Moens' composed demeanor, but it is the lace bonnet that arrests my attention. Such head coverings, appearing in various forms throughout history, symbolize modesty and piety. Consider the veils of early Christian women, or the wimple of a medieval nun. Here, the bonnet, while secular, carries echoes of those earlier symbols. Yet, the ruffled lace introduces an element of domesticity, a softening of the religious austerity. This very softening is a symbol in itself of the shifting values of the time, an evolution from rigid religious symbolism towards a more nuanced understanding of women's roles in society. This cyclical progression embodies the way symbols resurface, evolve, and are imbued with new meanings in different contexts.