Portret van Joannes Stafford 1798 - 1837

Ernst Willem Jan Bagelaar made this print, *Portret van Joannes Stafford*, sometime in the late 18th or early 19th century. Here we see a cleric, Joannes Stafford, with a crucifix to his left and a book in his hands, presented in an oval frame as if he were a Roman emperor. The print was made in the Netherlands, a place with a rich and complex religious history. During this time, the Dutch Republic was undergoing significant political and social changes, influenced by Enlightenment ideals and, later, the French Revolution. The presence of religious iconography and the somewhat archaic style of the portrait might suggest a conservative stance, or perhaps an attempt to connect with a longer tradition of religious authority. Prints like this served to create and reinforce social bonds within religious communities and to project an image of piety and erudition. To understand this image more fully, one might look to archives of religious institutions and genealogical records. The history of art is always contingent on these wider social and institutional contexts.