Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres (Cornelis Jansen) c. 1640

Curator: This is Jean Morin's portrait of "Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres," also known as Cornelis Jansen. It's a striking engraving housed here at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: My first thought? Intense. He looks like someone you wouldn't want to cross. That sharp nose, the set of his jaw... Curator: Indeed. Morin captures Jansen's intellectual intensity. The inscription surrounding the portrait highlights Jansen's role as a professor of theology at Leuven. Note how Morin uses the frame itself to convey meaning. Editor: It’s clever. The frame almost feels like a kind of symbolic enclosure, reflecting his rigid theological stance, perhaps? Curator: Precisely. Jansen's posthumously published "Augustinus" sparked the Jansenist movement, known for its emphasis on original sin and predestination. The portrait hints at the controversy to come. Editor: I see a man wrestling with big ideas, caught in the crosscurrents of faith and reason. Curator: A lasting image of a figure who left an indelible mark on religious thought. Editor: Definitely a face that prompts you to ask: what were you thinking?