Portrait of the artist's mother, Ida Emilie Ulrikke Henriette Bloch, née Weitzmann

Carl Bloch (Danish, 1834–1890)

1881

Medium
Etching
Classification
Etching
Dimensions
height 294 mm, width 199 mm, height 180 mm, width 130 mm
Culture
Danish
Museum
SMK – National Gallery of Denmark
Rights
Public Domain Mark: SMK waives its rights in this photograph, as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

View at the SMK – National Gallery of Denmark

About this work

In terms of media and genre, this inconspicuous portrait from the artist’s innermost private sphere is far removed from his public history paintings, which established his reputation as a monumental and nationally minded painter some ten to twenty years previously. Through studies of Rembrandt’s etchings, Bloch assimilated the Baroque era’s fascination with effects of light and shadow, maintaining his habitual stylistic orientation while working in the medium of graphic art. His portrayal of his mother posits itself within an international vocabulary of style.