Portret van Anthony Cornelis Malnoë 1784

This is Abraham Delfos's portrait of Anthony Cornelis Malnoë. The powdered wig and ruffled collar are potent symbols of status and respectability in the 18th century. Such displays of sartorial elegance evoke a sense of formality, connecting to similar displays across time. Consider how, in ancient Rome, the toga served a parallel function, immediately signifying citizenship and social standing. Yet, while the toga’s folds spoke of civic duty, here the wig and lace articulate a world of private refinement and intellectual engagement. These symbols are not static; they evolve. The wig, once a marker of hygiene in a time of disease, became a theatrical mask, obscuring the individual beneath layers of social expectation. Like a recurring dream, the impulse to present oneself in a certain light resurfaces throughout history, each era reinterpreting the code. It's a continuous psychological dance between the individual and society.