Portret van een geestelijke 1848 - 1911

Alphonse Farcy made this lithograph, titled 'Portret van een geestelijke', sometime in the mid-19th century. It depicts a cleric in simple garb holding a book, likely a prayer book, as suggested by the title. Lithography was still relatively new, but it had become a favorite method for commercial printing in Europe. The process allowed for a faster and cheaper way of distributing images, which meant that portraits like these became more accessible to a wider audience. Before lithography, it would have been far more expensive to reproduce a portrait with this level of detail. The lithograph provides a glimpse into the culture of the period, especially the importance of the clergy. These kinds of portraits were often commissioned to commemorate or honor individuals, and they reflect the social values of the time. To understand this artwork better, one might research the role of the Catholic Church in French society during the 1800s, and the growing rise of pictorial art. We see that the meaning of a simple portrait is contingent on its social and institutional context.