Portret van Jean-Baptiste Silva 1744

Curator: Let's turn our attention to this engraving, "Portret van Jean-Baptiste Silva," crafted in 1744 by Johann Martin Bernigeroth. The work resides here at the Rijksmuseum and exemplifies Baroque portraiture, meticulously rendered through the medium of engraving. Editor: It has this sort of contained drama to it, don’t you think? Like a meticulously crafted stage set. All these fine lines, carefully balanced tones… and it feels rather stately, but with a slightly melancholic air about it. I wonder what his inner thoughts were? Curator: Consider the production itself: Bernigeroth painstakingly incised lines onto a metal plate. Ink would then be applied and wiped, filling only those lines, before the plate was pressed onto paper. Every subtle variation in tone comes down to controlling the depth and density of the engraved lines and this highly skilled, labor intensive craft served specific socio-economic function. Editor: Absolutely. You feel that labor intensely! It reminds me of those hyper-realistic pencil drawings, almost unnervingly perfect in their representation, demanding the viewers acknowledgment. The tight oval framing intensifies that effect, as if offering up this man for our focused consideration – "Here is Silva, meticulously rendered." Curator: This brings into focus issues of class, profession, and historical power dynamics embedded within portraiture during this period. Silva's titles "Doctor regens Facultat. Med. Parisiens" and "Archiater regius", proclaim his esteemed status. The printmaking also made these portraits more widely available to a specific educated clientele. Editor: He has this faraway gaze. What narratives does it try to hide behind its presentation of social standing? There’s a deep humanness peering out despite the artifice of status – like an invitation for our modern eyes to connect with his 18th-century experience, its strangeness and surprising familiarities. Curator: Well, looking closely at Bernigeroth's portrait allows us to appreciate the skillful manipulation of material production. In the distribution and commodification of status as an aspect of material culture, engraving such as these operated not merely as representation, but within social practice. Editor: And for me, despite its calculated nature, there’s still that echo of a man trying to reach across time and space through a very human vulnerability in his eyes. We should remember that alongside, above, beneath whatever system produces, displays or reproduces its representation.