Portret van Deborah Kip met vier van haar kinderen 1755

James McArdell created this mezzotint, "Portret van Deborah Kip met vier van haar kinderen," a reproduction of a painting by Peter Paul Rubens. Deborah Kip was part of the Anglo-Dutch aristocracy, a social class that relied on portraiture to affirm its identity. The image presents Kip as the maternal center of a wealthy family, surrounded by her children in what appears to be a domestic space. However, the setting is staged, a way to project an image of dynasty and continuity. It's interesting to consider how gender and class intersect here. Kip’s role as a mother is highlighted, yet her access to wealth and privilege shapes that experience. The children are dressed in finery appropriate to their social standing. McArdell's print invites us to consider the emotional and social landscape of motherhood and family within the context of 18th-century aristocracy, asking us to consider whose stories get told and how.