Portret van Peter Jordan 1785 - 1846

David Weiss created this print of Peter Jordan using etching techniques. It is part of a tradition of portraiture used by the bourgeois and upper classes to visually reinforce a sense of social hierarchy. The carefully-posed figure of Jordan, surrounded by an oval frame, gives the work a classicising feel, which in the late 18th and early 19th centuries was associated with the artistic and political ideals of the Enlightenment. These were tumultuous times in Europe, with old certainties about class and governance being thrown into question during the French Revolution. The work’s visual codes signal the sitter’s taste and social position, yet, as a print, it is reproducible, meaning that portraits were no longer the sole preserve of the aristocracy. Historians might explore archives of prints like these to understand how status was claimed, visualised, and communicated in this period. They would understand how the means of making and displaying images became entwined with social change.