Portret van een onbekende man 1843

Joseph Schubert created this portrait of an unknown man using lithography, a printmaking process that relies on the chemical repulsion between oil and water. The image begins with a stone or metal plate, where a design is drawn with a greasy crayon. The stone is then treated with a chemical etch, making the drawn areas receptive to ink and the undrawn areas repellent. The surface is dampened with water, and then inked. The ink adheres only to the drawn design, which is then transferred to paper under pressure. What's fascinating here is how lithography democratized image-making. It allowed for relatively quick and inexpensive reproduction, bringing portraiture—once the domain of the wealthy—to a wider audience. This particular print captures not just a likeness, but also a moment in the industrial age where new technologies reshaped the very idea of representation. It reminds us that art is always intertwined with the social and economic forces of its time.