40-års alderen (Wolgetan) 1569

Curator: Look at the assertive detail in "40-års alderen (Wolgetan)", an engraving by Balthasar Jenichen from 1569. It's currently held at the SMK, the National Gallery of Denmark. Editor: Oh, what a curious character! He looks like a figure escaped from a deck of old cards. So formal, almost rigidly posed. What’s he guarding, or preparing for, do you think? Curator: It's interesting you say guarding. Consider the likely patrons of this print, or its function in its own era. Think about this print in multiples: How accessible it was in distribution for news, and ideas around status. Notice how much space Jenichen devotes to rendering armor? It shows great metalworking skill and attention to status. Editor: The lion, the arms, everything says "establishment." Except, his eyes seem a bit weary to me. Almost melancholy, like he's tired of playing the role. Maybe 40 years of Wolgetan feels long? Curator: Absolutely! He's literally footed within artifice, his very footing relies on the crafted lion—but is the "40-års alderen (Wolgetan)" authentic to his real personage? His stance and clothing suggests wealth and privilege and this image circulated as a form of self promotion or societal instruction for social mobility, yet he presents the gaze that hints at perhaps the opposite: anxiety. Editor: Perhaps it is, or it speaks to mortality more generally. See the castle or walled structure on the left? Such wonderful scale here; even with so many signifiers of power, you're also left with the impression of just one solitary man. It makes you wonder what occupies his mind under that helmet. Curator: Or maybe consider what role this etching played in self fashioning within Renaissance social circles! Thanks to art and material reproducibility— the consumption of luxury signifiers made statements to larger audiences of status anxiety Editor: The detail is so captivating! I appreciate seeing these things as "a means of display". Curator: It certainly offers us a lot to consider! Editor: It certainly does!