Portret van een vrouw met bont sjaal 1861 - 1874

Editor: Here we have Albert Greiner’s "Portret van een vrouw met bont sjaal," or "Portrait of a Woman with Fur Scarf," created sometime between 1861 and 1874. It’s an albumen print, a photograph, so it's interesting to consider it a portrait. There's a stillness and formality to the image that I find rather striking. What do you see in this piece? Curator: It’s fascinating how the formal conventions of portraiture, typically associated with painting, are translated into the photographic medium here. The fur stole is an obvious marker of status and wealth, but also warmth, safety and comfort. Do you notice how the window is slightly open behind her? What does it suggest that this person needs this warmth? What could be 'unhomely' in the scene despite all of the other indications of wealth and status? Editor: I hadn’t really thought of the symbolism there, more just that it filled the background. I see what you mean though. The window lets us consider some type of exposure. Do you read something particular into the woman's expression? Curator: Her gaze, direct but perhaps a touch melancholic, invites a reading of the inner life, doesn’t it? We are peering into a moment of presented composure. The plaid pattern of her dress might signify a connection to tradition or perhaps simply reflect the fashion of the time. Plaid had different cultural meanings in Europe at the time too... do we see her individuality or something else in that marker of community? Editor: I find that idea so interesting - this dance between the individual and the social. This idea of encoded meaning through both status symbols and more mundane choices really enriches my understanding of portraiture. Curator: Indeed, considering the portrait through its visual symbols allows us to ask fresh questions about how identity is constructed, performed, and preserved across time and through media.