Frederik Christian Holsten-Lehn-Charisius 1840s

Emil Ditlev Bærentzen created this portrait of Frederik Christian Holsten-Lehn-Charisius as a print. Bærentzen was working in the Golden Age of Danish Painting, a time when Danish national identity was being conceptualized and visually represented. Here, Frederik Christian is cast in a rather conventional light. He is dressed in dark formal wear, conveying a sense of authority and seriousness fitting with his upper-class position. However, as we consider representations of powerful men, we might ask ourselves, what goes unseen? What experiences and perspectives are deliberately left out of these portrayals? What does it mean to ‘perform’ as a man in the 19th century? Though the portrait speaks to an older way of seeing and being, the questions it raises about identity and representation remain critically important. The negotiation between public persona and private life, as well as how gender and class shape our understanding of ourselves and others, are still relevant.