Fotoreproductie van een schilderij, voorstellende Johannes de Doper before 1890

This is a photographic reproduction of a painting, showing Saint John the Baptist; it was made anonymously. The transition from the hand-painted to the mechanically-reproduced image has a profound effect on how we understand its subject. The original painting, of course, would have been valued for its unique, auratic quality. The artist's hand, and the labor involved in its creation, would have been a key part of the work's meaning. But here, in this black-and-white reproduction, we have something quite different. Photography, from its very beginning, has promised to make art democratic – available to all. This image is a multiple, and through its distribution, the idea of Saint John the Baptist, and the original artwork itself, became part of a wider visual culture. The labor here is not the painter's, but that of the photographer and printer. Thinking about these issues of material, making, and context, allows us to appreciate the full meaning of this modest artwork. It challenges traditional distinctions between fine art and craft, and encourages us to consider the social and cultural significance of reproduction and distribution.