Fotoreproducties van vier tekeningen van vrouwelijke personificaties voor wandschilderingen voor het trappenhuis van het Neues Museum in Berlijn before 1870

These are photo reproductions of four drawings by Gustav Schauer, made in the 19th century. These drawings were designs for murals in the stairwell of Berlin’s Neues Museum. The images depict female personifications: poetry, history, art, and industry. During the 1800s, personification through the female form was a common artistic technique to represent abstract concepts. These idealized female figures, rendered in a neoclassical style, embody the cultural values and aspirations of the time. But who gets to be immortalized? And who decides which values are celebrated? Schauer’s work engages with the historical and cultural context of 19th-century Germany, reflecting prevailing attitudes toward women, art, and progress. It serves as a window into the past, inviting us to consider how these representations have shaped, and continue to shape, our understanding of identity. What feelings do these images evoke in you?