Nieuwjaarsfeest te Wenen 1782

Johann Hieronymus Loeschenkohl created this print, Nieuwjaarsfeest te Wenen, with etching on paper. The composition is immediately striking; the gathering unfolds within an oval frame that flattens perspectival depth. The effect is a stage-like space, where the figures appear more as arranged forms than participants in a lively celebration. The color palette is restrained, yet it carefully delineates social hierarchies through clothing. Note how the pastel hues lend a sense of artificiality, emphasizing the constructed nature of courtly life. The rigid formality of the figures and their placement contributes to a semiotic system of signs. Each element seems deliberately placed to communicate status and decorum. Consider, too, how this flattening of space and emphasis on the artificial might destabilize our expectations of pictorial representation. Loeschenkohl invites us to question not just what we see, but how we interpret the social codes embedded within the print's formal structure. The artwork, therefore, becomes a critical reflection on representation and its inherent constraints.