Portret van Hajo Albert Spandaw 1843 - 1904

This is a lithograph of Hajo Albert Spandaw, made by Johan Hendrik Hoffmeister in the Netherlands. Lithographs like this were very popular in the 19th century and served a similar function as photographs do today. But lithographs weren't simply neutral records, they reflected a specific set of social and cultural values. Spandaw is depicted wearing a suit jacket, and medals. In nineteenth-century Europe, this was a visual code for wealth, status, and power, and signalled that Spandaw was a member of the ruling class. The Netherlands at the time was a constitutional monarchy with a clear class structure, which makes it likely that Spandaw held a high position in society. Understanding the cultural context of art like this requires that the historian do some digging. By consulting historical archives, newspapers, and other period documents, we can better understand the social role that Spandaw played in his time and, by extension, the message that Hoffmeister was trying to convey in this lithograph.