Portret van Filips II de Stoute 1628 - 1670

Curator: Welcome. We’re looking at "Portret van Filips II de Stoute," an engraving made between 1628 and 1670, now residing in the Rijksmuseum. The artist credited is Pieter de Jode the Younger. Editor: It's striking how the fine lines create a palpable sense of gravity, even melancholy. The stark contrasts really focus my attention on the face. Curator: Precisely. The lines, typical of engraving, delineate form and texture, building up the portrait through considered marks. Consider the planes of the face; how they suggest form in this challenging medium. Editor: It makes me think about the imagery surrounding Philip the Bold – what kind of ruler was he? The inclusion of scallop shells on his robe stand out as quite dominant visual motif, suggesting a link to pilgrimage and perhaps St. James. Curator: Intriguing observation. Iconographically, those scallop shells certainly resonate with the idea of pilgrimage, faith and perhaps membership in a specific order or confraternity during that era. Also notice that his dark clothes suggest more than modesty. His face and shoulders suggest a stoic disposition appropriate for governance. The inscription also explicitly lists Philip's noble lineage, emphasizing his power. Editor: So the artist is making symbolic assertions about status through visual means? It’s powerful. One sees how important visual representations are in forming the cultural memory of an individual and an era. The realism suggests also historical importance. Curator: Precisely. De Jode's choices shape not only our visual understanding of the man, but reflect, also, the power of this sort of idealized state portrait. Editor: This reminds us how images act as enduring echoes of history, layered with meanings. Thank you for unveiling the artifice and intention. Curator: It's through this visual parsing that we come to new understandings; that is after all the role of careful scrutiny of art's structures.