Portret van een onbekende oude vrouw 1750 - 1811

This is Carl Friedrich Holtzmann's small portrait of an unknown older woman. Holtzmann was working in the late 18th century, a time of significant social change when ideas about identity and representation were being questioned. While portraits of the wealthy and powerful were common, images of everyday people, particularly older women, were less so. There is an emotional weight in the lines etched by Holtzmann to depict the woman’s face. Her gaze is steady, thoughtful, and knowing. The fur-trimmed cap she wears speaks to her class, yet her image resists easy categorization. Instead of idealized beauty, we see the marks of age and experience. The artwork invites us to consider the lives and stories of those often overlooked by history, revealing an emotional narrative about aging, identity, and representation. What does it mean to be seen and remembered? What does it mean to be rendered anonymous?