Dame voor de spiegel bij kaarslicht 1815 - 1866

Petrus Augustus Beretta’s print of a woman at her toilette, made in the Netherlands in the mid-19th century, shows how artists could make use of older conventions to comment on contemporary society. The image is based on genre paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, particularly those of Godfried Schalcken, and evokes the world of the 17th century through its use of candlelight and focus on intimate domestic scenes. At the same time, Beretta’s print brings this sensibility to a 19th-century audience. The act of a woman dressing and adorning herself becomes an opportunity to reflect on the changing status of women in Dutch society, the rise of consumer culture, and the increasing emphasis on personal appearance and social display. To understand the print fully, one might turn to studies of Dutch social history and the role of art institutions in shaping national identity. By exploring these themes, we can better understand the complex relationship between art, culture, and society in the 19th-century Netherlands.