Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman 1892 - 1938

Curator: Here we have "Prentbriefkaart aan Willem Bogtman," housed here at the Rijksmuseum, and created sometime between 1892 and 1938, though based on a Holbein drawing. The medium is pencil on paper, a postcard capturing an old portrait. Editor: It's stark. Stripped down to the essential lines, it really focuses attention on her expression. The restricted palette, grey on off-white, heightens the sense of gravity. Curator: Yes, I agree, although it’s after Holbein, there's a cultural echo of Northern Renaissance austerity here. That severe headwear…it’s a symbol of a certain Protestant virtue, the self-effacing woman. The portrait after Holbein of Margaret Roper shows how this imagery transcends through the ages. It’s interesting this made its way on a postcard. Editor: It seems like a modern appropriation of a historical moment—the pencilwork emphasizing line and form, brings out her face. There's very little shading, it relies almost entirely on contour and light values. Look at how the lines define the shape of her face and the delicate curves of her neckline, her outfit really dictates that period. Curator: Holbein made very interesting portraits. This one in particular, replicated later on a postcard makes an immediate intimate connection across time. It allows us to reflect not only on Holbein’s subject and its later printing of Roper, but the receiver, Willem. Who was he? And why this image? Its distribution also highlights that print and dissemination of information can make this imagery so impactful and enduring. Editor: I am taken with the composition here. It focuses intently on the face, but then also has a sense of this distant removal, which allows us to explore these connections with this individual through form and materiality, from different cultural lenses. Curator: For me, it’s that act of transmission that really captivates, this continuous echo across eras. The weight of what she must represent is distributed on a very nonchalant surface for daily enjoyment. Editor: Precisely. A convergence of formal discipline and profound historical memory.