Fotoreproductie van een portret van Friedrich von Schiller 1870 - 1900

This is an undated reproduction of a portrait of Friedrich von Schiller made by an anonymous photographer. Schiller, the famous German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright, is captured here seated, pen in hand, presumably in the act of writing. Portraits of this nature were often commissioned to project an image of sophistication and intellectual prowess, and the image of Schiller is no exception. But I think the reproduction of this image speaks to something else, something about the democratizing power of the photographic medium. Consider how this reproduction renders Schiller, the great man of letters, available to a wider audience, turning him into a more accessible, even reproducible figure. What do you think it meant for someone to own this image and to reproduce it? How does the ability to reproduce images change our relationship to the people in them?