Jan Blanken Jansz., Superintendent of Waterworks 1820 - 1838

Jean Augustin Daiwaille painted this portrait of Jan Blanken Jansz., Superintendent of Waterworks. Consider the medals adorning Jan Blanken's chest. These symbols of honor and service are not mere decorations, but powerful emblems of recognition, steeped in the rich tradition of expressing social standing, civic duty, and military achievement through emblems. Medals have ancient roots and are directly connected to classical antiquity where laurels and crowns celebrated victory and virtue. Yet, how is this different from the symbolic weight carried by a chieftain's headdress or a king's crown, symbols of power stretching back millennia? The impulse to signify status through adornment is a constant, a thread woven through the tapestry of human history. These symbols serve to unite people and give them an opportunity to align with the image's emotional and cultural power. The medals in Daiwaille’s artwork are the modern equivalent of these historic status symbols, revealing our ongoing, perhaps subconscious, need to mark and celebrate achievement.