Portret van Anna van Craesbecke 1847 - 1889

Curator: Let's discuss this fascinating portrait. The Rijksmuseum holds this print called "Portret van Anna van Craesbecke," created by William Unger sometime between 1847 and 1889. It’s an engraving. Editor: Oh, my! Immediately I get a sense of formality, almost austere. It's primarily black and white, naturally, but all that dark fabric, it swallows her whole. She almost disappears into the shadows, doesn't she? Curator: Precisely! Unger, as an engraver, was keenly interested in translating the textures of the fabric. Look closely at the difference between the lace collar and the heavy gown. That contrast is everything to understanding this era's access to, and use of, these very commodities. Editor: It's stunning how tactile he's made the lace seem. You can almost feel the fragility, but her face… her expression seems quite determined, like she's tolerating this portrait session rather than enjoying it. Curator: Absolutely, the material details also hint at societal structures of the time. Consider the labour involved in producing clothing of such high detail, the cotton trade in the mid-19th century, and who benefited, and indeed, suffered for it to exist at all. Editor: Yes, I am getting an oppressive sense of the era, now you mention it. It is making me wonder, did the subject have agency over her representation? Is it fair to suggest that she is indeed a subject under the heavy textiles and structures? It does have me considering identity... Curator: An excellent consideration! Unger has replicated an existing portrait. We are now at two-fold remove, perhaps her "identity" is less her own, and more enmeshed with societal expectations reproduced for the market. It brings into focus just how carefully these portraits are constructed. Editor: You're right, it’s like a layered effect – the sitter, the original painter, Unger's interpretation, the printmaking process… All these hands contribute. I almost feel I understand more of how power and commerce defined someone's existence in 19th Century Netherlands... than her soul, somehow!