Portret van een vrouw bij een fauteuil c. 1882 - 1885

This photograph by Louis Robert Werner captures a woman in a dress of the time. Notice her dress. The elaborate embellishments on the garment are not merely decorative but function as silent heralds of social standing and personal identity. Ribbons adorn her dress, a motif that has meandered through art history, initially a symbol of bondage and restriction, yet paradoxically, it morphed into an emblem of honor and aristocratic status. Consider how the ribbon mirrors the complexities of human experience. The ribbon's presence, interwoven with the dress, speaks to the ways in which symbols evolve, shedding old skins and adopting new meanings across the ages. A continuous thread through time, looping, bending, and knotting itself into the fabric of our collective consciousness.