Portret van de predikant Michael Hoernlein 1670 - 1713

Editor: Okay, next up we have a print called "Portret van de predikant Michael Hoernlein" by Pieter Schenk. It was made sometime between 1670 and 1713 and it’s currently at the Rijksmuseum. It's…intense. It feels very formal and kind of somber. What catches your eye about it? Curator: Well, isn’t he magnificent? This engraving practically breathes the weight of Dutch Golden Age respectability, doesn't it? The lines, the serious gaze, it’s all carefully etched, literally and figuratively, to convey authority. Tell me, what do you make of his hand gestures and the book? Editor: Hmm, I didn't immediately notice that. The hand almost looks like he is giving a benediction, maybe a sermon. And the book must indicate some learning or important sacred writings, I suppose? Curator: Exactly! Schenk has positioned Hoernlein as both a man of God and a scholar, those symbols are classic visual rhetoric. Though I wonder, is he blessing us, or pointing towards some hidden truth? And that tightly bound book— is it knowledge or perhaps confinement? Editor: Interesting… so it’s less a straightforward portrait and more a calculated statement? Curator: Precisely. Think of it as 17th-century LinkedIn profile, only far more poetic. It's fascinating how artists would distill a person’s entire identity into these codified images. Isn't it curious how different things were then? Editor: Definitely makes you think about how we present ourselves today! Thanks for that new perspective.