Portret van een onbekende vrouw 1852 - 1890

Willem Linnig the Younger made this etching of an unknown woman in the 19th century. It uses the visual conventions of formal portraiture while also hinting at the complexities of representing social identity. The woman's features and dress evoke the codes of bourgeois status. Etchings were often commissioned by the rising middle classes of Europe, and were sometimes collected in albums. But the sitter is unknown. What does it mean to represent an anonymous person using the visual language of celebrity? The image asks us to consider the social and institutional forces that shape who gets remembered and how. To understand this etching better, we could research the history of printmaking and collecting in 19th-century Belgium. We might also look into Linnig's career and other portraits of the time. Art is always embedded in particular contexts, and history helps us to unpack its meaning.