Portret van een vrouw in een gestreepte jurk, leunend op een stoel 1872 - 1873

This photograph, "Portret van een vrouw in een gestreepte jurk, leunend op een stoel", was made by J. Ballantine. It presents a woman in a striped dress, a pattern that carries significant cultural weight. Stripes, historically, have been a marker of otherness. In the Middle Ages, they were used to identify those on the fringes of society, such as criminals and servants. Yet, we see this motif resurfacing in this portrait, during a time of burgeoning industrialization. The regular, repeating lines of the dress may evoke the mechanized patterns of the new industrial age, suggesting a modern sensibility. The woman's composed posture suggests a desire to align herself with the forward momentum of her time, even as the stripes subtly echo earlier associations with social marginalization. This tension between conformity and individuality highlights the complex ways in which we negotiate our identities within the symbolic order, echoing through time and evolving in meaning.