Portret van een echtpaar, vermoedelijk een kopie naar een zeventiende-eeuws schilderij 1827 - 1891

Johannes Bosboom made this graphite drawing, a copy of a seventeenth-century painting, in the 1800s. Bosboom employed graphite, a readily available material that is relatively inexpensive, in stick form. The artist would have needed some skill with the medium to apply controlled marks to evoke a sense of depth, volume and texture. The drawing captures a sense of the fashions worn by wealthy Europeans during the 17th century, and what their status would have allowed them to acquire. The use of graphite, a common material, combined with traditional drawing techniques, reflects a desire to engage with historical aesthetics while acknowledging the changing economic landscape of the 19th century, as more people could make art, with the expansion of education. This work blurs the lines between fine art and the everyday practice of drawing, inviting us to reconsider traditional hierarchies.