{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0252486610558531, 'fraction_numerical': 0.02218821729150727, 'mean_word_length': 4.8133333333333335, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Picturing the New Middle Class: Two 19th Century Portraits of Serbian Women

During a recent visit to Belgrade fashion designer Milan St. Marković’s apartment, my eye chanced upon two portraits of young women (Figs. M-1 and M-2 in the graphic insert following p. 200 of this issue). What drew my attention is that the women in these paintings looked very similar, and yet they sent a markedly different message to the spectator. Their most attractive features are the dresses that fill both canvases and the clandestine eroticism emanating from their carefully comported bodies. Little is known about these sitters except that they were cousins of Mr. Marković and siblings of Stevan Petrović, better known as Knićanin (1807–59). Knićanin was a member of the Council in Serbia during the reign of prince Aleksandar Karađorđević (1842– 58) and was a commander of the Serbian volunteers in Vojvodina during the revolution of 1848. The author of the portraits is unknown; however, several indicators, which will be discussed later, suggest the hand of Uroš Knežević (1811–76). The rise of the new elite classes in Serbia in the nineteenth century was accompanied by a new taste for secular subjects that reflected everyday life. This interest in representations of everyday life grew stronger at every level of