Portret van Isidore Hemeryck 1893

This is a portrait of Isidore Hemeryck, made by Willem Philip van der Veken, although we don’t know exactly when. It’s a lithograph, meaning it was printed from a stone matrix using oil-based inks. The magic of lithography lies in its capacity to capture fine detail, and here you can see it in the cross-hatched shading and the subtle rendering of Hemeryck’s features and clerical robes. The artist has also made use of the technique to create crisp lettering, giving us the sitter’s name and further information about him. Lithography was a revolutionary technology in the 19th century. It allowed for the relatively quick and inexpensive reproduction of images and texts, and thus a wider dissemination of information. In this case, the lithograph served to commemorate and disseminate the image of an important religious figure. It’s a reminder that even seemingly straightforward portraiture is deeply tied to material processes, and their social implications.