Portret van graaf Johan van Sayn-Wittgenstein 1623 - 1660

Pieter de Bailliu created this engraving of Count Johan van Sayn-Wittgenstein. Observe the Count's portrait framed within an oval, a shape which, since antiquity, has been associated with ideas of potential, the cosmic egg, a space pregnant with possibility. The oval itself is set against a rectangular background, adding to the sense of the Count's presence emerging from, and held by, his time. Consider the Count's somber gaze and carefully cultivated mustache. This presentation is meticulously crafted to project an aura of authority. Throughout the Renaissance, portraits of rulers often incorporated symbolic elements intended to legitimize power and project an image of invincible strength. This careful construction of the self echoes in other portraits through time, like those of emperors in antiquity. Here, the Count consciously employs these visual strategies, demonstrating an awareness of the potency of images.