Portret van François-Gaspard Leroy before 1867

This portrait of François-Gaspard Leroy was made in 1867, and appears as an illustration in a biography. The image and text work together to situate Leroy as a figure of importance within the social fabric of his time. Leroy was a pharmacist, a member of learned societies, and of the medical establishment in Brussels, Belgium. His intellectual and professional credentials are part of the portrait's meaning. The photograph is framed by an oval wreath, connoting civic virtue and success, but also the power of bourgeois institutions in Brussels at that time. The portrait celebrates the accomplishments of a member of the professional class. Historical research into biographical records, professional organizations, and other institutions in Brussels could tell us much more about the social milieu in which Leroy and his portrait circulated. The meaning of art, is always contingent on its social context.