Charme van het portret 1731 - 1788

Johann Esaias Nilson created this print titled "Charme van het portret" or "The Charm of the Portrait" using etching techniques. It plays with the nature of images and their place in eighteenth-century society. Nilson, who was active in Germany, stages a scene where a fashionable couple are shown framed as if they are sitting for a portrait, but around them are gathered the accoutrements of the artist's studio - an easel, a clock, a birdcage, and even the artist himself, as a putto holding a palette. In this way, the image shows us the process by which fashionable people were transformed into art objects, or "charming portraits," which then gained a life of their own in the public sphere. For a deeper understanding, one could explore period writings on aesthetics, portraiture, and the rise of celebrity culture. By studying these historical sources, we gain insight into the social dynamics of art.