Portret van een man met een hoed en een grijze pruik, naar rechts 1720 - 1792

Aert Schouman created this portrait with watercolor and graphite, capturing a man adorned with a hat and a grey wig. The wig, more than a mere fashion statement, echoes through the corridors of history, a symbol of power and status that first emerged in the court of Louis XIII, becoming an almost theatrical marker of identity among the elite. This convention carried a weighty cultural significance: to be wigless was to be vulnerable. Consider its recurrence: not just as adornment, but as a mask of authority. The wig's presence speaks to our shared human impulse to adorn ourselves in ways that project power, engaging with the psychological need to assert control and status. Even now, in our own time, symbols like this persist, evolving and re-emerging, reflecting our continuous dialogue with history. The man's assured gaze, framed by the artifice of his wig, transcends the simple act of portraiture, touching on the deeper, cyclical currents of cultural identity.