Karel V, erfpotestaat van Friesland 1618 - 1620

Curator: Pieter Feddes van Harlingen created this engraving between 1618 and 1620, titled "Karel V, erfpotestaat van Friesland." It resides here at the Rijksmuseum, offering us a glimpse into Dutch Golden Age portraiture. Editor: It has an air of calculated authority, wouldn’t you agree? The ornate frame, the somewhat stilted pose, all contributing to a specific construction of power. There's also something quite cold about the limited palette; very deliberate, lacking in vulnerability. Curator: Absolutely. Consider the context: Prints like these served a crucial purpose. This wasn’t about personal expression so much as disseminating an image, a concept of leadership, especially relevant in the Dutch Republic's formative years when it was displayed. Editor: That globe in his hand – the power and conquest this embodies—seems very on the nose now. How did these visuals impact people in that specific moment? I am drawn to examine this imagery through contemporary power structures, looking at political theatre. The framing also feels relevant, a sort of enforced order. Curator: Indeed, the visual vocabulary employed reflects the evolving politics of the era. These kinds of images functioned almost like political posters, meant to shape public opinion and establish a lineage. The historical role and perception become so complex with the rise and fall of powers and belief structures. Editor: This piece is interesting in how it both presents power directly and allows space to investigate, criticize, and discuss what it meant, how it looked. I wonder about the counter narratives available at the time, visual responses perhaps lost to time. Curator: A fruitful line of inquiry. We see reflected in these static representations an active, often contentious, negotiation of social order and political legitimacy, and those power structures resonate in contemporary artmaking. Editor: It is quite telling how much information and ideas a seemingly simple print such as this holds, after all.