Fotoreproductie van een geschilderd portret van Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué 1860 - 1880

This photographic reproduction presents a painted portrait of Jean-Baptiste Schwilgué; a striking example of how the rise of mechanical image-making intersected with older traditions of portraiture. Photography in this period was a laborious process, demanding technical skill and chemical knowledge. This image, likely a collodion print, would have been created by coating a glass plate with light-sensitive emulsion, exposing it in a camera, and then developing the image through a series of chemical baths. The tonal range of the print, from its warm sepia tones to the crisp details of Schwilgué’s face and clothing, reveals the photographer’s mastery of this complex process. The choice to reproduce a painted portrait via photography speaks to photography's unique ability to disseminate images widely. By combining the aura of a painted portrait with the reproducibility of photography, this work blurs the lines between artistic tradition and mechanical reproduction, asking us to reconsider the value and meaning of images in an age of mass production.