Vrijwilliger van het Korps tot het verrigten van Kavallerie diensten langs de linie van de Kapitalen Dam tot Sluis 1835 - 1850

Editor: Here we have Albertus Verhoesen's "Volunteer of the Corps for the Performance of Cavalry Services Along the Line of the Capitals Dam to Sluis", made sometime between 1835 and 1850, in watercolor. It feels very…formal, I suppose. What can you tell me about its deeper meaning? Curator: Note how the equestrian figure dominates the pictorial space. This is deliberate. Equestrian portraits were often commissioned by the sitter, conveying a sense of power, command, and social standing, evoking the glorious Roman Empire or Renaissance leaders. The landscape almost seems secondary, though present. What details do you notice about his uniform and weaponry? Editor: Well, he’s very smartly dressed with a kind of elegant, yet still imposing, dark green uniform, gray pants and a weapon ready to shoot... What did it mean to be a volunteer at this time? Curator: The uniform serves not only as clothing but as a symbol. These uniforms would immediately connote social status, military capability, allegiance and ideology for those who lived during this era. Consider this figure in contrast with images of resistance fighters of this period or even earlier. Editor: So, it is about showing power but with a level of precision that makes it an extension of the volunteer himself, not merely external clothing. Thanks, that's an interesting nuance that really changes how I see it. Curator: Exactly! The costume isn't separate from the identity. What a figure *chooses* to represent and project carries intense meaning. That symbolic charge is often overlooked. Now, how do you see the symbolism of uniforms after our chat?