Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand (1735-1806), hertog van Brunswijk-Wolfenbüttel 1763

Gerrit Kamphuysen painted this miniature portrait of Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand, Duke of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel in 1768. The Duke, a figure of the late Enlightenment, is presented with the symbols of his status – his powdered wig, the sash and star of his aristocratic rank. Yet the intimacy of the miniature format invites a different kind of reading. How might we consider the emotional life, the interiority, of a man positioned at the intersection of inherited power and emerging revolutionary thought? The Duke was a complex figure, known for his military leadership but also for his patronage of the arts and sciences. This portrait captures the paradox of a man who embodied the old order, while also engaging with the new ideas that would ultimately sweep it away. It’s a reminder that even those in positions of power are subject to the currents of history and change.