Portret van Hendrik Boursse Wils 1845

Johann Peter Berghaus made this print of Hendrik Boursse Wils in the Netherlands in the mid-19th century. It is a delicate rendering in graphite, and the artist has carefully considered the fashions and presentation of a gentleman of the period. Prints like this offered a new kind of social visibility at this time. The burgeoning middle class wanted its slice of fame and recognition, and this portrait is one small artifact of that cultural shift. It seems as though the person depicted was involved in its creation, making this a kind of early version of the 'selfie', designed to circulate an idealised image within a social network. Such a portrait might have been commissioned to mark a special occasion. To find out more about the people involved and the social context, one could look at archives of family papers, local newspapers, and business records. What seems like a simple image opens up a whole world of research into a particular time and place.