Drieluik: Maria met Christus op schoot, links en rechts elk twee apostelen 1831 - 1890

This print of a triptych showing Mary with Christ and Apostles was made by Jean Baptiste Pierre Michiels in the 19th century. It’s a fascinating piece when we consider the public role of religious imagery in the 1800s. The composition recalls traditional altarpieces but reproduced as a print, it would have circulated in a very different way. Rather than being a unique object displayed in a church, it could be mass-produced and distributed widely. We might ask, what are the politics of this imagery? Is it intended to reinforce traditional religious values in a time of social change? Or could it be a more progressive effort to make religious art accessible to a wider audience outside the confines of the church? To understand better, we could research the specific religious and social context in which Michiels was working, looking at the institutions of art that supported or commissioned such works, and the audiences they were intended to reach. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.