En charlatan sælger blanksværte, Rom 1840s

Wilhelm Marstrand captured this Roman street scene with graphite on paper sometime in the mid-19th century. Here, a quack vendor hawks ‘blanksværte,’ or blacking, a substance used for polishing shoes, to a diverse crowd. Observe the figure of the boy elevated on a chair, a pose reminiscent of religious iconography where elevation signifies importance or sanctity, yet here it is employed in a mundane, even comical context. This echoes images like ‘Ecce Homo,’ where Christ is presented to the masses, but here the ‘hero’ is a boy ready to be displayed, his gesture suggesting a forced performance. Consider how such motifs are imbued with new meanings in the modern world, often stripped of their sacred aura. This recurring visual strategy reflects our human impulse to frame the everyday within a grand, albeit sometimes ironic, narrative. This practice reminds us that even in the bustle of daily life, echoes of the past resonate, shaping how we perceive and interpret our present reality.