Portret van M. Colsaux before 1900

This anonymous portrait of M. Colsaux is from an illustrated theatrical program that would have been printed in the late 19th century. The program's layout exhibits a busy composition, typical of its time, densely packed with text and images. The portrait of M. Colsaux is centered within an ornamental frame, surrounded by vignettes of theatrical scenes and advertisements. This placement suggests an effort to draw attention to the individual while embedding him within a network of cultural and commercial signs. Semiotically, each element—the typeface, the architectural sketches, and Colsaux's formal attire—contributes to a tableau that speaks to bourgeois values and the burgeoning culture of celebrity. The structure of the page itself, divided into distinct blocks of information and illustration, reflects a broader cultural impulse to categorize and display knowledge. This program challenges fixed meanings by blending entertainment, commerce, and portraiture into a single surface.