Portret van een onbekende vrouw, aangeduid als Madame Papin 1855 - 1885

"Portret van een onbekende vrouw, aangeduid als Madame Papin" is a carte de visite portrait by Erwin Hanfstaengl, a German photographer who was active in Paris in the mid-19th century. The image depicts a woman, likely from a well-to-do family, wearing a floral bonnet and a formal dress, suggesting a portrait created for personal or family use. The carte de visite format, a small photographic print, was immensely popular in the mid-19th century and allowed for the widespread sharing of portraits among social networks. Hanfstaengl's work in this genre demonstrates the developing technology of photography and its emerging role in the documentation of people and their lives.