Portret van David Jorisz. 1677

This is Christoffel van Sichem's, "Portret van David Jorisz.," an engraving made sometime before the artist's death in 1624. Here, Jorisz is rendered with the accoutrements of wealth and status. Yet, he holds in his hands, not a scepter or orb, but a flower, a humble, natural form. It serves as a reminder of Jorisz’s spiritual convictions. As the founder of the spiritualist movement the Davidjorists, Jorisz believed in an inner, personal connection to God, rather than through established religious institutions. Consider the duality here: the material versus the spiritual, public persona against private belief. Van Sichem has captured the nuances of a man who challenged the religious norms of his time, whose teachings emphasized inner transformation, and whose followers were persecuted for their beliefs. It reminds us that identity is complex, often shaped by the tensions between the individual and society.