Portret van Peter Vagt 1741

Johann Martin Bernigeroth made this print of Peter Vagt using etching. The resulting image communicates the sitter’s status within the church and Bremen society in general. The visual codes include the sitter’s clothing and wig. This identifies him as a man of status and learning within a specific social milieu. Bernigeroth was working in the eighteenth century, a time when printmaking served increasingly as a means of reproducing and circulating images of notable figures. Institutions such as the church and burgeoning print market shaped artistic production. The fact that Vagt is identified as pastor of a specific church indicates the importance of local religious institutions in the cultural life of the time. As historians, our understanding of this artwork is contingent on accessing a variety of sources. We can find information about the artist, the sitter, and the cultural institutions. This helps us to develop a more complete picture of the print’s social and historical context.