societal 13:01 Nov 9
Hi, Jon, Phew, more context? "vorab:" Is this an art patron & do 'we' want to know more about the patron's background or rather the artist's?
Dinstinctions: the seeming double-definition here might be just that. Without more context it's hard to say what distinction might be meant.
One could be gesellschaftlich as 'societal' (about society, any soc.; cf. use of 'contemporaneous' to avoid poss. confusion with senses of 'contemporary') vs 'social' (in its weighted sense, cf. anti-social, but I can't see that making sense here).
Certainly "gesellschaftlich" could imply social position (cf. "Stand/Rang" in earlier qn.; DIE "feine Gesellschaft") with a slant towards "what company one keeps" /what circles did (patron or artist) move in; and "sozial" might more directly imply economic status rather than 'traffic'. But all very hazy.
Hintergründe: those of a depicted scene, perhaps? | 
