Portret van keizerin Eugénie de Montijo c. 1865 - 1875

Curator: This striking albumen print presents a compilation of images; it's entitled "Portret van keizerin Eugénie de Montijo", dating to around 1865-1875, authorship is unknown and currently part of the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: At first glance, the page gives me an overwhelming sense of state power. Portraits enclosed by wreaths feel official. Below, indistinct figures perform some military exercise—a sense of controlled order dominates. Curator: Indeed. Each oval portrait contains not only Eugénie de Montijo, but also, centrally, a man I think could be identified as Napoleon III and, on the right, probably a likeness of King Wilhelm I of Prussia. Symbols carry loaded weight. We can clearly see French flags draping the portrait in the middle. Editor: All staged power dynamics during the Second Empire. Think about the construction of femininity for Eugénie as a royal figure during times of great political turmoil. She embodied an antiquated view of power through fashion and religious authority, a symbol of traditional, dynastic legacy that's losing ground as a ruling party in a revolutionary century. Curator: That is true and further underlined by the somewhat artificial settings, emphasized through studio-constructed landscape elements behind those figures who might be identified as French and Prussian military staff or soldiers during drills. We see carefully staged images that create an "impression" or idealized landscape. It reinforces state-led national mythologies of discipline and power. Editor: Myths indeed propping up a fleeting status quo. Looking closer, I question the bottom left frame - one soldier rests idly while another lays face down. There may be multiple subversive counterpoints woven here, perhaps critiquing the idealized portrayal of the French military prowess during the Second Empire by some unknown critical source. This needs to be better looked at by academics... Curator: Yes, the anonymous source reminds us there is power even from being unheard. Perhaps, after all, this albumen print holds complex layers beyond imperial grandeur... Editor: Absolutely, its aesthetic of control makes one more inquisitive as to who made these, and to whose advantage?