Hoofd van een man met baard 1888

This is T. van Riet's print of a bearded man, a study in the psychological weight of facial hair as a symbol of authority and wisdom. Throughout history, the beard has signified various stages of life, roles, and qualities. From the pharaohs of ancient Egypt, whose false beards symbolized divine power, to the philosophers of ancient Greece, whose beards represented wisdom and contemplation. The image of the bearded man has resonated across epochs. Notice the gesture of the hand lightly touching his chest. This is reminiscent of the rhetoric gesture of "adlocutio", the act of addressing the crowd that Roman Emperors, orators, and generals used. Here it suggests deep thought and introspection. The pose and thoughtful expression evoke a complex interplay of learnedness and the weight of knowledge, engaging us on a deep subconscious level. The bearded sage persists as a powerful archetype, continually resurrected, reformed, and re-contextualized.