Portret van Johann Bergius 17th century

Heinrich Jakob Otto made this portrait of Johann Bergius, likely sometime in the 17th century, using engraving. The very nature of portraiture in the early modern period was tied to social status. Bergius is rendered here with the visual codes of wealth, education, and piety: his clothing is formal and dark, his collar white, and his gaze steady. Looking closer, we see the engraver has included a heraldic crest and Latin inscription as further markers of Bergius's importance in his community. Bergius was a theologian and professor in Frankfurt. During his lifetime, Frankfurt was a Free Imperial City within the Holy Roman Empire. Bergius held positions with the electors of Brandenburg. This context is essential. The religious wars of the 16th and 17th centuries brought the relationship between church and state into sharp focus. For the historian, understanding a work like this requires archival work to discover more about the sitter, the artist, and the social and political structures of their time.