Putting Faces to Names: Printed Portraits in Late Eighteenth-Century Stockholm

In the eighteenth century, the portrait genre, previously restricted to royalty and nobility, became available to users from a broader social spectrum. All over Europe, physicians, scholars, writers, merchants, and proprietors had their portraits painted to mark their standing in society. However, not these grand paintings but their printed versions made the sitters known to the broader public. But who commissioned these engravings, how were they produced and distributed, and for what purpose?
This article presents a pilot study for my postdoc project that examines how portraits were spread and mediated in eighteenth-century Sweden. The study discusses the roles of engravers, publishers, and printers in the portrait market. It will give examples of newspaper announcements that shed light on how engraved portraits were advertised and by whom, as well as correspondence between sitters, engravers and publishers highlighting how and why engravings were commissioned. Thereby, the article will provide insight into the players of the Swedish print market and their varying agendas concerning the portrait genre.