Portret van de arts Nicolas Philibert Adelon 1841

Marie-Alexandre Alophe made this print of doctor Nicolas Philibert Adelon sometime in the 19th century. Lithography emerged as a new medium in France, opening possibilities for artists to represent figures of public life and to circulate these images widely. This is just such an image: it depicts a famous French doctor, recognizable by his clothing and decoration, and the text below confirms that it was drawn by Alophe. Prints like these were often displayed at the Salon, the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The “Salon de 1841” inscription at the top suggests this print may have appeared there. To understand this artwork better, we would need to research the culture of public art in France in the 1840s, and the status of lithography among the accepted fine arts. The meaning of this artwork is therefore dependent on its social and institutional context.