Portret van Bettino Ricasoli 1865 - 1880

This portrait of Bettino Ricasoli was made with photographic print on card by Carl Suck at an unknown date. The sepia tones are a tell-tale sign that we are looking at an earlier photographic process, and the small scale tells us this may have been intended as a carte-de-visite, an easily produced and widely disseminated calling card. These images are made possible through the rise of industrial capitalism, which provided both the surplus capital to support such a practice and the materials that enable its production. This is a reproducible image, and the relative affordability of photography allowed for a more democratic form of portraiture. But the subject here is clearly of the upper class, the clothing, demeanor, and composition give us clues. It is important to remember the means of production and social context when looking at works like this, challenging traditional distinctions between fine art and craft.