Portret van Cornelia Maria Bon

Coenraad Jacob Snooij made this portrait of Cornelia Maria Bon using photography. Without a date for the image itself, and with the dates we have for the artist, we can assume that this small photograph was made sometime in the late 19th or early 20th century. Photography had become more common, but was still used by the middle classes to document family members in a society that placed great emphasis on social status. Photography studios sprung up everywhere, but portraits were often stiff and formal, so it's nice to see that this one, despite the sitter’s formal dress and hairstyle, has something more intimate about it. The art historian can draw on a range of resources, such as historical archives, social records, and institutional documents, to gain a deeper understanding of the photograph's original context and its evolving meaning over time. The meaning of art is always contingent on social and institutional context.