Portret van Eli (I) van Maine 1822 - 1889

This is Léopold Massard's "Portret van Eli (I) van Maine" which is held at the Rijksmuseum. Without a date, we must look to its historical context. Massard, active in the 19th century, created this portrait of Eli I, Count of Maine, a figure from the 11th century. It's impossible to overlook the layers of identity at play here. A 19th-century artist depicting a medieval count presents us with a complex intersection of historical perception and artistic interpretation. What does it mean for Massard to look back at this figure from the past? What aspects of Eli I's identity does he choose to emphasize, and why? The emotional resonance for a 19th-century audience viewing this portrait might have been rooted in a sense of national pride, or a romanticized vision of the past. Massard's artwork prompts us to consider how history is constructed, and how our understanding of the past is always shaped by the present.