Gezicht op Gripholms Slott 1865 - 1890

Johannes Jaeger made this photograph of Gripsholm Castle in Sweden sometime in the late 19th century. It’s a small albumen print, a popular format at the time, and it offers a picturesque view of the castle across the water. Photography was still a relatively new medium then. Consider the social implications of making such grand architecture newly visible to a wider public through mass reproduction. What did it mean to make royal power accessible as an image? Was this a form of democratization, or simply a new way to reinforce the established order? Sweden in the late 1800s was undergoing significant social and political changes. Looking into the history of Gripsholm Castle itself, its changing function, and the role of the monarchy at the time, might reveal how Jaeger's photograph participates in the visual culture of its time. What can this image tell us about how Sweden saw itself? What stories were being told, and for whom? These are the questions art historians ask.