Self-portrait (?) with plumed cap and lowered sabre 1770 - 1803

Curator: What a brooding portrait! Immediately, I'm struck by this fellow’s melancholic air. He looks straight out, but his expression has such a downward, recessive quality, which really is compounded by the fact that he is holding this lowered sabre… a poignant emblem here. Editor: And speaking of emblems, this intriguing piece is "Self-portrait (?) with plumed cap and lowered sabre", dating anywhere from 1770 to 1803. It's held here at the Rijksmuseum, attributed to Constantino Cumano, executed using etching, a printmaking method. I see those delicate, scratched lines adding to the drama. Curator: Definitely. Those intricate lines! For me they serve to capture, paradoxically, both the turbulence and the tenderness in that time, not just about external wars, revolutions, conquests, but interior changes that affect identities, aspirations, as well as their artistic depiction. Note the plumed cap—an almost theatrical nod to the cavalier spirit. A soldier and poet maybe? The downcast sword speaks to some internal conflict I sense he expresses towards his profession, country, or social expectations of it, but could there be a religious meaning? Perhaps humility? Editor: Possibly, there’s the visual link with military status or perhaps it hints at bohemian ideals through self-fashioned costuming, or this piece can offer something of both; remember it might be a reproduction which takes on other meaning or might change its meanings… We tend to view historical pieces in light of what is available from other documented moments. The lack of more details and documents about it also feeds into our sense of it. Curator: Yes, because the figure doesn't seem exactly dejected either. There’s a quiet authority in his eyes. An acceptance, maybe resignation… So many different angles we can read this from which also comes from not really having it totally documented and known. The symbol of the lowered sabre certainly sparks an interesting meditation. Is it shame? Defeat? Or simply fatigue? So ambiguous. Editor: Right. And on that note, ambiguity seems the perfect word to capture my impression overall. Thanks for this exploration. I'll leave contemplating the multiple, veiled layers this etched self-portrait brings up to me now! Curator: And I’m keen to explore how Cumano’s psychological and socio-historical self-exploration and experimentation also informs us about ours too! Thanks!