Gezicht op een zaal in gotische stijl in het hotel van Gallet in Brussel, België before 1898

This is a photograph by G. Choppinet showing a room in the Hotel Gallet in Brussels. Without a date, it is hard to say when it was made. But the architecture and interior design suggest it was a relatively recent historicist pastiche, made in a period when the rising wealthy classes liked to surround themselves with romanticized images of the past. The ‘Gothic style’ room features a beamed ceiling, paneled walls, and a large fireplace. The room is furnished with heavy wooden chairs and a large table, all designed to evoke a medieval atmosphere. The presence of these ‘period rooms’ speaks volumes about the self-image of the elite classes, whose wealth allowed them to create these elaborate displays of taste and historical awareness. To understand this image better, one would research the history of interior design, the economic and social conditions of the late 19th century, and the ways in which the past was being reinterpreted and consumed at that time.