Fotoreproductie van de prent Le retour d'Egypte door Hieronymus Wierix before 1860

Edmond Fierlants made this photographic reproduction of Hieronymus Wierix’s print, “The Return from Egypt,” in 19th-century Belgium. The image depicts the Holy Family returning from their exile in Egypt, a popular subject in Christian art. But why reproduce this particular print at this time? The 19th century saw the rise of photography as a new medium for art and documentation. Fierlants, like other photographers, engaged with older forms of art, reproducing them and, in the process, transforming them. This speaks to the changing status of art in a rapidly industrializing society. Photography democratized image production and dissemination. To understand Fierlants' work fully, we might explore the archives of photographic societies and commercial studios of the time, as well as the history of reproductive printmaking and the market for religious imagery in Belgium. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.