Dorothée Louise Viedebandt (The Artist's Wife) 1761

Editor: This is "Dorothée Louise Viedebandt (The Artist's Wife)," an engraving by Georg Friedrich Schmidt, created in 1761. There's a quiet intimacy in this portrait. What do you make of it? Curator: This portrait, created through the intaglio printmaking process, presents us with interesting questions about representation and power dynamics. Schmidt, the artist, depicts his wife within a framework of societal expectations. She’s engaged in intellectual pursuits, perhaps reading or writing, yet her adornments like the lace bonnet and the intricate scarf suggest a life of leisure and domesticity. How does this portrayal both acknowledge and potentially confine her identity? Editor: So you see a tension between intellect and domestic role? Curator: Absolutely. In 18th-century Europe, women's roles were narrowly defined. Portraits of women were often about displaying status and virtue. But Schmidt's choice to show his wife with a book could be a subtle commentary. What does it mean to show a woman engaging in intellectual pursuits during this period? Editor: Perhaps it challenges the prevailing social norms in a subtle way, presenting a vision of female intellect and agency within a patriarchal structure. Curator: Precisely. And it leads us to consider: whose gaze are we seeing her through? How does that gaze influence her representation? Think about the power dynamics inherent in the artist-model relationship, particularly within a marriage. The engraving as a multiple—as a print—creates additional considerations for the modern viewer too. Editor: I never thought about it that way. I appreciate understanding how those constraints impacted not only her life, but the way her husband chose to depict her. Curator: Indeed. It allows us to engage with this work as a reflection of its time but also prompts crucial questions about gender, power, and representation that still resonate today.