Portret van Louise Marie van Orléans met ornamentele omlijsting met diverse voorstellingen 1836 - 1837

Jean-Baptiste Madou made this portrait of Louise Marie van Orléans, with its ornamental border, using lithography. Lithography is a printmaking process that relies on the contrast between greasy and water-receptive areas on a stone or metal plate. The artist draws with a greasy crayon, then the stone is treated with acid. When the stone is inked, the ink adheres only to the greasy areas, and then the image can be printed. It was a relatively new process at the time, having been invented in the late 18th century. Here, the lithographic process allows for a high level of detail, seen in the delicate rendering of the Queen and the surrounding vignettes. This would have been a relatively inexpensive way to produce images, and thus served as a powerful tool for disseminating imagery to a broad public. It's a reminder that even royal portraiture is always influenced by social and economic forces.