Portret van een zittende vrouw met pijpenkrullen en een muts c. 1860 - 1870

This portrait of a seated woman with curled hair and a cap, was made by Théodor Weijnen in the late 19th century. The image is a testament to the rise of photography, a technology that democratized portraiture. Before cameras, painted portraits were a luxury only the wealthy could afford. The rise of photography studios meant that middle-class families could commission images like this one. The photograph's sepia tone comes from the chemical processes used to develop the image, where silver halides on paper are exposed to light, and then treated. The final print, mounted on card stock, was an affordable way to capture a moment in time. Photography used industrial materials and techniques to enter the realm of fine art, expanding the scope of what art could be.