Portret van aartsbisschop Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen c. 1837 - 1840

This is a print of Hyacinthe-Louis de Quélen, Archbishop of Paris, made by N.M. Schild. The print depicts the Archbishop in his formal ecclesiastical attire, complete with a pectoral cross. France in the 19th century was marked by religious and political upheaval, with the Catholic Church's role in public life hotly contested. The Archbishop was a prominent figure who navigated the complexities of post-revolutionary France. The very act of creating and circulating such a portrait speaks to the ongoing negotiation of religious authority within French society. It offers a visual representation of power that would have been easily disseminated through print culture. To fully understand this image, we can look into the history of the Catholic Church in France, as well as the wider visual culture of portraiture and the way it was used to convey authority and status. The meaning of this print is contingent on its historical and institutional context.