Untitled 

Jules-Frédéric Ballavoine painted this alluring portrait of an unnamed woman in France in the late nineteenth century. She presents herself in profile, her magnificent auburn hair cascading down her back. Ballavoine has positioned her in front of a dark background, which throws the details of her pale face into sharp relief. Her demure expression is consistent with the limited social roles available to women at the time. The artist has rendered her as an object of aesthetic contemplation, a visual representation of feminine beauty which might be bought and sold on the open market. But portraits like these are more than just reflections of their sitter. They are documents of power, class, and aspiration. They speak to the values of the society in which they were produced. The art historian can analyze a portrait like this one by looking at exhibition catalogues, census records, fashion magazines, and newspaper articles to understand the economic and social conditions that gave rise to it.