Hoofd van een oude man (Jozef) 1672 - 1711

Editor: Here we have "Head of an Old Man (Joseph)" dating from around 1672-1711, by Augustinus Terwesten, rendered in etching. It feels so intimate, doesn't it? Almost like catching a private moment. How do you interpret this work, particularly given its context? Curator: It's interesting to consider what role these kinds of character studies played at the time. Etchings like this circulated widely; they weren't necessarily 'high art' but fulfilled a need. This work’s inscription, Jozef or Joseph, does invoke a Biblical figure, which lends it certain associations. Editor: Associations, like what exactly? Curator: Consider the rise of printmaking in the Dutch Golden Age. Prints became a major form of visual communication, conveying moral lessons or ideals of virtue through the dissemination of images to a broad public. Does this depiction feel overtly religious to you? Or perhaps does it have more to do with demonstrating an appreciation for old age? Editor: Now that you mention it, it feels less like religious veneration, and more… empathetic? Almost scientific in its detailed rendering of age. Curator: Exactly! Think about the changing social attitudes toward age and wisdom. An image like this could appeal to different audiences in various ways, becoming something much more politically fluid through interpretation. Who was given a place within society at that moment, and how was that communicated through prints? Editor: It’s fascinating how a seemingly simple portrait drawing could be so loaded with meaning related to power and how it was expressed through cultural symbols. Curator: Precisely. And it prompts questions about who commissioned these, how they were distributed, and who had access to them, contributing to how such images shaped the perception of old age at the time. Editor: I hadn't thought about this drawing being part of such a broad system of knowledge production and distribution. I definitely see this piece in a different light now.