Hoofd van een soldaat en hoofd van een oude man 1620 - 1657

Editor: Here we have Stefano della Bella's "Head of a Soldier and Head of an Old Man," made with pen and ink on paper sometime between 1620 and 1657. It’s housed here at the Rijksmuseum. There’s something very raw and immediate about the sketch-like quality. What stories do you see embedded in the linework? Curator: I see a reflection on power structures of the 17th century and their human cost. The soldier, caught mid-thought, perhaps contemplating the violence he enacts, is juxtaposed with the potential consequences: the weary visage of an old man. Della Bella, through the starkness of his medium, avoids romanticizing military life, doesn’t he? Instead, the drawing pushes us to consider the social hierarchy. Editor: So, it's more than just portraiture? It's about social commentary? Curator: Precisely. The “portrait” becomes a study of how the individual is shaped – or perhaps, misshaped – by their position within a society steeped in conflict. Do you think della Bella critiques or reinforces these structures in his work? The line, thin and controlled, could represent restriction; is it the artist attempting to reveal those tensions? Editor: I hadn't thought about the linework representing the "restriction." Perhaps both. It humanizes the subjects while also hinting at the societal constraints acting upon them. I'm struck by the artist's conscious use of contrast here to spotlight class tensions and the consequences of war. Curator: It is an evocative look at humanity caught within larger societal issues. I will not see it the same way again.