Portret van Luitenant Jacobs, te paard 1803 - 1861

Jacob Joseph Eeckhout created this portrait of Lieutenant Jacobs on horseback, with pen and brush in gray and brown, heightened with white and color. The composition immediately strikes us with its division; two studies of the same figure occupy the pictorial space. On the left, the lieutenant is depicted from the rear, a fully realized study in color. To the right, we see him facing forward, yet this study remains incomplete, as though caught mid-process. This juxtaposition invites a semiotic interpretation. The finished figure represents the public persona, meticulously rendered, while the incomplete sketch unveils the process of representation itself. The negative space surrounding both figures becomes charged, suggesting not just absence but the potential for meaning. The visible layers of the drawing, the bare paper, the traced lines, and the patches of color, all contribute to a visual language. Eeckhout prompts us to reconsider the portrait as a construct, a layering of signs, rather than a straightforward depiction.