Fotoreproductie van een schilderij van drie musicerende vrouwen en een putti door P. J. Carpey before 1881

This is Charles Claesen's photographic reproduction of a painting by P. J. Carpey, featuring three women and a putto making music. The image's monochrome palette gives a sense of timelessness, while the arrangement of figures creates a dynamic interplay of forms. Notice how the composition guides your eye in a circular motion, from the women on the left, across the standing figure in the center, to the putto on the right. The softness of the photographic medium enhances the dreamlike quality of the scene, blurring the distinction between reality and representation. This blurring challenges fixed meanings, suggesting a world of fluidity and transformation. It invites us to question the nature of art and its capacity to evoke emotional and sensory experiences. The photograph serves as a copy, but also as an interpretation. In its re-presentation, it highlights the structural elements of the original painting, prompting us to consider how meaning is constructed through form, medium and reproduction.