Portret van Willem Smits 1716 - 1761

This is Pieter Tanjé's portrait of Willem Smits. Note the sitter's monastic robes, their dark color and simple design a symbol of humility, obedience, and a renunciation of worldly vanity. The symbolism of the monk's habit goes back centuries, to the earliest Christian monastic orders. We might recall the Benedictine monks of the medieval era, whose lives were dedicated to prayer, study, and manual labor, their garments a constant reminder of their spiritual commitments. But even earlier, in ancient Greece, philosophers wore simple robes as a sign of their dedication to wisdom and a rejection of material excess. The conscious repetition and subtle transformation of such symbols across different eras reveal the continuous interplay between past and present. This emblem speaks to the deep-seated human desire for order, meaning, and connection to something beyond the material world.