Portret van Abraham Jacob van der Aa 1847 - 1883

This engraving portrays Abraham Jacob van der Aa, and was created by Adrianus Johannes Ehnle. Notice the subject's spectacles. These lenses, though functional, have a deeper resonance. In the 19th century, spectacles were not merely tools for sight but potent symbols of erudition and intellectual authority. Van der Aa’s glasses signal his profession as a lexicographer, yet they also subtly echo the scholarly tradition extending back to medieval monks meticulously copying manuscripts. Consider, too, how such a simple object evolves—from a practical aid to a mark of learned status, much like the transformation of the caduceus from a simple staff to an emblem of medicine. This image engages our collective memory, evoking subconscious associations with knowledge, insight, and the power of observation. Symbols never truly fade; they resurface, transformed and laden with the weight of history.