Portret van Maria van Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen before 1880

This is a portrait of Maria van Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, made by an anonymous artist. The image of Maria, Countess of Flanders, presents a fascinating insight into the social conventions of nobility in Europe. Made in the late 19th century, the portrait seems to emphasize Maria’s status through the codes of formal portraiture. The composition, the setting, and her attire all contribute to an image of aristocratic dignity. But the image is a photograph, a relatively new technology at the time. Photography democratized portraiture by making images more widely accessible to the middle classes. Did this technological shift change the way elites presented themselves? Historians can better understand art like this by studying sources such as fashion plates, social registers, and family archives. Only then can we understand how art both reflects and shapes social norms.