Portret van Cornelis de Witt 1643 - 1702

Curator: Gazing at us from across the centuries is Cornelis de Witt, in a portrait rendered in charcoal by Jan de Baen. It's currently held in the Rijksmuseum and believed to have been created somewhere between 1643 and 1702. What do you make of him? Editor: Immediately, I notice the gentleness in the drawing, an almost ethereal quality. The soft reddish-brown charcoal gives it a warmth, but there's also a certain melancholy hanging in the air. He seems… resigned, perhaps? Curator: I get that! There's definitely something in the eyes, a world-weariness that transcends the formal portraiture of the era. I wonder what Baen was thinking when capturing this, it seems far more intimate than simply documenting de Witt's likeness. I sense a subtle critique of power. Editor: Absolutely, and we can’t ignore de Witt’s own tumultuous story, executed in 1672 for supposedly plotting against William of Orange. Does that context colour our interpretation? I mean, does knowing this cast a shadow on the portrait's perceived sadness? Does the art anticipate the end? Curator: I suspect that to read the portrait as directly predicting that horrific end would be too much of a stretch! I can't imagine that de Baen was necessarily consciously foreshadowing it, even with art's remarkable foresight now and again, but maybe his keen observational and interpretive artistic self may have picked up on it. His eyes suggest he sees quite clearly, perhaps *too* clearly. Editor: Indeed, because he isn't staged in front of something pompous to show his power and standing, instead he's wearing this intricate lace collar which brings so much grace and almost sensitivity to the historical role of sitter and painter, and that in itself brings its own set of historical and cultural connotations. Curator: I see that tenderness as something human and incredibly accessible even today! The beauty is perhaps that he almost stares beyond the drawing itself! Perhaps a mirror is to thank! I almost wonder what *we* ourselves have reflected into *his* face in all the intervening years of our gazing… Editor: So perhaps it functions like a Rorschach test where historical traumas of that age keep being exposed. So many layers of perception! Curator: Right?! It remains potent even centuries on because ultimately it speaks to us! De Witt is still very much present and Baen gave him that presence and a sensitivity that few were party to! Editor: Yes! This small work contains a universe.