Portret van Willem van Leen c. 1763 - 1825

Willem van Leen created this delicate graphite drawing, a portrait of himself. He presents himself with the understated elegance typical of his time. The slight turn of the head, the soft curls framing his face: these are not merely stylistic choices, but echoes of classical portraiture. We see a hint of the contrapposto, a pose that suggests a life, a movement caught mid-motion. This same contrapposto can be found in ancient Greek sculptures, like the Doryphoros, where the figure embodies ideal balance and harmony. Here, however, it is softened, adapted to a more modern sensibility. Notice the button on his coat. Such small details remind us that fashion, too, carries its own symbolic weight. Throughout history, buttons have been a marker of status and taste, evolving from simple fasteners to ornate declarations of wealth and power. In this humble rendering, the button is merely a whisper of such grandiosity, a subtle reminder of the social currents that shaped even the most intimate self-portraits. These symbols are not static. Like water, they flow and adapt, their meanings shaped by the times, reflecting our ever-changing understanding of ourselves.