Maria De Fonseca, Daughter of a Portuguese-angolan Trader, Said to Be the Favourite Wife of Msiri, King of Katanga, in 1892. 

Curator: Here we have an engraving attributed to Edouard Riou. It depicts Maria De Fonseca, identified as the daughter of a Portuguese-Angolan trader and favorite wife of Msiri, King of Katanga, back in 1892. Editor: Ah, the line work is so striking, almost brutally precise. But look at her expression. Despite the implied formality, there's a gentleness there. Curator: Precisely. Note how Riou utilizes the stark contrast of black and white to delineate form. The cross-hatching creates volume and texture, most evident in the detailed rendering of her hair and the almost architectural basketry of her clothing. It’s quite revealing, isn’t it? Editor: Revealing, yes, in a way that makes you want to know the real story behind her. The title states "favorite wife," but I wonder about power, agency, and the artist’s gaze during a tumultuous colonial era. Her adornments almost feel like subtle forms of resistance—triangle jewelry along the collar and an interwoven garment hinting at protection and perhaps a claim for agency. Curator: An interesting observation. However, one must consider the constraints of the engraving technique itself. The medium inherently demands a reduction to binary contrasts. But you are right in a way, semantically, that her jewelry brings focus on the narrative beyond mere aesthetic representation; it alludes to layers of status, identity, and a transcontinental story, adding nuance to what may be too easy to assume about representation in the colonial area. Editor: Well, it begs questions, doesn't it? Was she truly comfortable in her role? What were her ambitions beyond the royal court? This print—with all of its formal precision—is as intriguing for what it hides as for what it shows, a fragment of a bigger story. The sharp rendering against the ambiguous backdrop creates a liminal effect; we glimpse her briefly but can't fully know her or see the full picture beyond what’s immediately portrayed. Curator: Yes, an echo of untold histories caught within a highly structured visual framework. An intriguing work to decode and re-examine its implicit politics today. Editor: Indeed. Art should never settle.