Portret van Charles de Langhe 1834 - 1862

This portrait of Charles de Langhe was rendered anonymously, at an unknown date, through engraving. De Langhe gazes off to the left, but his eyes do not meet ours; his is a world of finance and commerce, the business of being a merchant in the Low Countries. The formal qualities of the image and de Langhe’s dress tell us of the need to convey respectability through the representation of wealth and status. The sharp white collar and tightly buttoned doublet speak of the austerity of the protestant reformation, but the carefully trimmed beard and hair are a sign of worldly success. The almost clinical rendering seems to echo the values of a burgeoning mercantile society. This portrait makes visible the emergence of the modern financial world. We are invited to think about the individual within a changing world, a world where identity is being shaped by both religious belief and the accumulation of capital.