Portret van Lodewijk Napoleon, koning van Holland 1806 - 1810

Charles Howard Hodges produced this portrait of Lodewijk Napoleon, King of Holland, using the technique of mezzotint. Hodges, an Englishman, plied his trade in Amsterdam amidst the Batavian Republic, a client state of Revolutionary France. This print reflects the turbulent politics of the Netherlands in the early 1800s. Note Lodewijk Napoleon's regal garb and the oval frame, visual cues of power and authority borrowed from the French court. Yet, his uncertain gaze hints at his tenuous grip on the throne, appointed as he was by his brother, Napoleon Bonaparte. To fully understand this image, we delve into the social history of the period. By examining French and Dutch political records, newspapers, and personal correspondence, we can better understand how Hodges' image creates and reflects the fraught relationship between France and the Netherlands at this time. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.