Portret van Dohlmann 1836 - 1880

This is Conrad Friedrich Merckel’s diminutive portrait of Dohlmann. Without a date, we must rely on the artist’s dates to place its production somewhere in the mid-19th century. The sitter's dress and bearing suggest that he’s a member of the European middle class. But what can we learn from the image itself about the social forces at play in its creation? Engraved portraits like this one had become very popular in Europe. The development of mechanical reproduction meant they could be produced cheaply and in large numbers. The trade in reproducible images grew in tandem with the expansion of the periodical press, and the illustrated newspaper. Likenesses such as these were crucial in the distribution of political ideas. By looking at periodicals and newspapers from the period we can hopefully contextualize the social and institutional context in which this image was created. We can reflect on the meaning of art as something contingent on social and institutional context.