Portret van Christian Friedrich Garmann 1708 - 1748

This is Moritz Bodenehr's rendering of Christian Friedrich Garmann, created sometime between 1665 and 1749, immortalizing him through the intaglio technique of engraving. Garmann, a physician and natural scientist, lived during a period of significant intellectual transformation marked by the rise of empirical science, and the proliferation of academic societies. Bodenehr’s print, with its detailed rendering of Garmann’s features and attire, embodies the values of the 17th and 18th century elite. The trappings of wealth and status are communicated via his powdered wig, and elaborate lace collar. Consider the scientific revolution that privileged reason, observation, and experiment. Garmann, as a physician, would have been part of an educated elite class. His profession afforded him a certain social standing, one that he performed through his dress and demeanor. Bodenehr’s print thus becomes more than a portrait; it serves as a historical marker, a symbolic representation of a man’s identity, shaped by the scientific, social, and cultural currents of his time.