Portret van Jean-Alphonse Turrettini 1739

Curator: Well, isn’t this just screaming "serious"? All those meticulously etched lines. Editor: Exactly! You can almost hear the scratching of the burin. This is a print, an engraving in fact, titled "Portret van Jean-Alphonse Turrettini," created in 1739 by Johann Martin Bernigeroth. Currently it is kept at the Rijksmuseum. Curator: Turrettini, the Genevan theologian. Makes sense, doesn't it? He’s framed in an oval like a saint in a reliquary, enshrined by respect and intellect. Editor: He does have that intellectual intensity. All those swirling curls – it's almost as if his thoughts are visibly radiating from him. The tight linework almost makes the subject disappear as its own entity: dissolving into the infinite. Curator: That wig is certainly doing its part to uphold tradition, signifying his station within a social and theological hierarchy. Beyond the superficial adornments, there's the enduring archetype of the learned scholar, which this portrait actively reaffirms. And let’s not forget, prints like this were a form of mass communication at the time! A way to circulate his image and ideas more widely. Editor: A very deliberate and formal PR campaign! I suppose that's one of the powers of symbols, especially through a visual medium: reinforcing beliefs that are important for the individual as well as a given cultural context. Curator: The choice of profile, in particular, adds to that sense of gravity and decorum. There's a remoteness there, but also an idealized clarity. His gaze might be focused elsewhere, towards a future we cannot see. The viewer, here and now, gains an enduring memory. Editor: And a quiet monument. Each of those tiny etched lines feels almost reverent in its application. Bernigeroth has certainly done an exceptional job rendering a dignified figure in a manner appropriate for his profession. I’m left wondering about his influence... Curator: One has to appreciate the deliberate hand, making a statement through the material limitations and its reproducibility. A fascinating snapshot into a particular moment of faith and the technology available for distributing its figureheads.