Portret van een onbekende man Possibly 1858

Johann Peter Berghaus produced this portrait of an unknown man with a pencil on paper. It is a small portrait of an elegant, confident man holding a cane. The man’s confident demeanor speaks to the rising middle class in 19th-century Europe, a class whose sense of self-worth was on the rise thanks to the burgeoning economies of the Industrial Revolution. This new sense of dignity was reflected in the art of the period. One could look at the influence of the new wealth and leisure on clothing, posture and attitude, and consider the rise of photography, which democratized portraiture, as having an impact on the production of such images as this one. The Rijksmuseum holds a wealth of information about the social, cultural, and institutional context of this and many other works like it. Such resources help us to appreciate the role of art in reflecting and shaping the values of its time.