Vignet til "Sophies Reise fra Memel til Sachsen" 1782

Peter Haas made this print, a vignette for "Sophie's Journey from Memel to Saxony", sometime in the late 18th century. The image shows a woman in fashionable dress pointing at a balance scale, set on a table draped with a decorative cloth. The image, made in Denmark, raises questions about the Enlightenment's relationship to women. In this period, new ideas about individual rights circulated widely, yet these ideas often excluded women. What does it mean for a woman to engage with the symbolism of justice? Is she an active participant in the public sphere, or is she relegated to the domestic sphere, as suggested by the interior setting? To understand this image, we might consult conduct books and fashion plates, sources that reveal the social expectations for women. Exploring the history of Danish literature and the book trade would also help us understand the vignette's original context. Approaching art history through such interdisciplinary research, we can better understand how art engages with the social structures of its time.