Portret van gravin Aglae Festetics van Tolna Possibly 1880 - 1884

Editor: This is a fascinating portrait of Countess Aglae Festetics von Tolna, likely from the 1880s. It appears to be a print based on a photograph. I'm struck by the elaborate costume – so ornate and seemingly performative. What’s your take on this work? Curator: Well, the countess certainly makes a statement, doesn’t she? To me, this image whispers of the calculated self-fashioning so prevalent amongst the European aristocracy at the time. The clothing seems purposefully antiquated, an echo of earlier eras – almost as if she is performing nobility. It's academic realism doing a little play-acting of its own, wouldn’t you say? Do you find a sense of… theatrics, shall we call it? Editor: Absolutely! There’s definitely a sense of performance. The peacock feather fan, the heavy fabrics, even her somewhat stoic expression – it all feels staged. Was there a specific reason why these aristocrats adopted such an "old-fashioned" style? Curator: That's the intriguing bit, isn’t it? Perhaps a way of visually cementing their connection to a noble past, especially during a time of social and political upheaval. Fashioning oneself as timeless in the face of change, that is so seductive. It could be a conscious effort to signal lineage and power – to differentiate themselves. Almost a costume to maintain an image. It makes you think, what aspects of *ourselves* are performance, and what parts feel more authentically *us*? I wonder, will future portraits speak with such layered irony, I wonder? Editor: That’s a really interesting way of looking at it! I hadn't considered the element of social anxiety influencing artistic choices. Curator: I never know what to believe – how far can any artist see when holding a mirror up to society, hm? It reminds me, in the mirror, what do *we* see? Or perhaps what do we want others to see?