Portrait of woman, from the Novelties series (N228, Type 2) issued by Kinney Bros. 1889

This color lithograph on card, a portrait of a woman, was issued by Kinney Brothers Tobacco Company. Consider the circle that contains the portrait. Since antiquity, the circle has been employed as a frame, a way to isolate a detail to reflect the universal. The tondo format, popularized in Renaissance portraiture, reappears here, charged with the weight of history. Botticelli’s “Mystic Nativity” employs the tondo to suggest the divine perfection, while, in contrast, a photograph of a wanted criminal framed in a circle flattens the divine quality, emphasizing the subject’s isolation from the norm. Similarly, this young woman appears as though in a protective bubble, but also, perhaps, on display. Her steady gaze projects from the card with an enchanting quality, reflecting a cultural fascination with beauty and the eternal image. The portrait becomes a vessel, capturing not only the likeness but the emotional essence. An essence that persists as it travels from object to observer.