Portret van Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve before 1877

Bertall created this portrait of Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve using photography in the 19th century. Sainte-Beuve was a hugely influential literary critic during a period of significant social and political change in France. Consider what it meant to be a man of letters during the 1800s. Sainte-Beuve’s confident stance and direct gaze exude an air of intellectual authority, a posture available to few at the time. His clothing marks him as part of the bourgeoisie, while the setting – complete with heavy curtain and writing desk – evokes a sense of cultivated gentility. Yet, despite these markers of privilege, Sainte-Beuve himself experienced exclusion as a result of his appearance and background. This photograph invites us to reflect on the complexities of identity and representation. It prompts us to ask: who has the power to shape narratives, and whose stories remain untold? How do our personal experiences intersect with broader social forces to shape our sense of self and our place in the world?