Portret van Maria Vaillant 1658 - 1690

Editor: This is "Portret van Maria Vaillant" by Wallerant Vaillant, created sometime between 1658 and 1690. It's currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. Made using engraving, it has an interesting shadowy and dark feel for a portrait. What stands out to you about it? Curator: I am struck by the choice of printmaking for a portrait during this period. Think about the labour involved: the engraving process, the multiple hands that likely touched this print from artist to printer to distributor. It moves away from the unique, singular artwork valued by the elite. It prompts questions about accessibility and who this image was intended for. Editor: So, the fact that it’s a print, making it reproducible, challenges the idea of a unique artwork? Curator: Exactly. We can examine the materiality – the paper, the ink – and consider how these materials would have been sourced and distributed at the time. What social and economic structures were at play in bringing this image to life? Consider too, the chiaroscuro effect, how does the use of light and shadow play with the process of printing to add or take away from its ‘preciousness?' Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. I was so focused on the face and the subject herself, but looking at it as a produced object really opens up new questions. It almost democratizes the image. Curator: Precisely! It shifts our focus from the individual sitter to the complex web of production and consumption in 17th-century society. It makes you think differently about what constitutes ‘art,’ doesn't it? Editor: It certainly does. I’ll definitely be looking at prints with a new appreciation for the work and social implications behind them now!