Portret van een meisje after 1845

This small photograph, "Portret van een meisje," was created by Eduard Isaac Asser. In the nineteenth century, portraiture, particularly of women, was enmeshed in the politics of representation. The female image was often used to uphold societal ideals and gender roles, portraying women as passive, domestic, and virtuous. While this photograph is faded, the girl’s upward gaze hints at a challenge to the conventional demure presentation of women in art. What is she dreaming about? What does she wish to become? It is important to consider Asser’s own identity as a Jewish man working within a society that often marginalized Jewish individuals. Perhaps through this image, Asser subtly acknowledges the experience of those who existed on the margins of Dutch society. Ultimately, this image serves as a poignant reminder of the complex interplay between identity, representation, and the lived realities of women and marginalized communities in the 19th century.