Portret van Salomon Gessner 1775

This print of Salomon Gessner was made by Augustin de Saint-Aubin, in France, around 1760. It's a delicate engraving in a classical style, showing the Swiss poet and painter in profile, framed by an ornate oval. To understand this image, we need to consider the culture of sensibility that shaped 18th-century Europe. Gessner was known for his idyllic pastoral poems, celebrating the simple life of shepherds and nymphs. This art was a counterpoint to the growing urbanization and social inequality of the time. The print presents Gessner as a figure of refined sensibility, someone who could appreciate the beauty of nature. Institutions like the French Royal Academy played a key role in shaping artistic taste. Engravings like this helped spread those tastes among a wider public. Historians use a range of sources – letters, diaries, literary texts and institutional records – to reconstruct the complex social world in which art is made and consumed. By studying these sources, we can gain a deeper understanding of the values and beliefs that shaped the art of the past.