Portrait of Princess Colonna 1873

Marcellin Desboutin created this drypoint etching, *Portrait of Princess Colonna*, sometime in the late 19th century. This was a period when printmaking was being revived as a fine art. Looking at this portrait, we see visual codes of wealth and status in the sitter’s elaborate hat and dress. But we can also detect a tension between the aristocratic subject and the artistic style. Desboutin was associated with the Realist movement in France, which sought to portray the world as it is, without idealization. The rough, sketchy quality of the drypoint medium lends the portrait an air of informality. The revival of printmaking in France was linked to broader social and economic changes, including the rise of a new middle class with disposable income to spend on art. Artists like Desboutin challenged the traditional hierarchies of the art world, creating works that were both accessible and aesthetically innovative. By studying the artist’s biography and the art criticism of the time, we can better understand the complex social and institutional forces that shaped this image.