Bildnis des Johann Maximilian zum Jungen 

Curator: This is "Bildnis des Johann Maximilian zum Jungen" by Sebastian Furck, currently held in the Städel Museum. It's executed using pen, ink and engraving on paper. Editor: Immediately, there's a stark intensity to his gaze that is almost unsettling, juxtaposed with a seemingly frail or fading quality inherent to the paper itself. The monochrome palette adds a definite gravity. Curator: Precisely, the artist employs very deliberate hatching and cross-hatching to sculpt form and suggest volume. Look at the control in creating the varying textures - from the soft curls of the hair to the stark smoothness of the collar. It draws the eye, doesn't it? Editor: It does, yet what socio-economic realities allowed a man to sit, posed and immortalised this way, whilst the broader populace suffered under inequitable conditions that allowed such elitism? What did "Eternitatem Cogita,"—the inscription above his head, advising one to consider eternity—mean in a society sharply divided between haves and have-nots? Curator: It may remind us of the conventions and styles that constitute baroque portraiture in its emphasis on capturing likeness but through structured lines and forms to deliver a representation which might, despite some visual imperfections and the passing of time, survive the vicissitudes of history. Editor: The image offers so much potential. Is he part of an aristocratic system? And it is quite remarkable how the gaze confronts us head on! Was it to express social dominance? Curator: Such Baroque era works really force you to think about perspective—both in its visual representation but also in the portrayal of an individual. The emphasis placed by the artist of the way line works in this Baroque work continues to spark visual dialogue over many years. Editor: It leaves you pondering these intricate relations, doesn’t it? Power and portrayal are always culturally fascinating.