Portret van Johann Leonhard Frisch 1744

This portrait of Johann Leonhard Frisch was etched by Ferdinand Helfreich Frisch in the 18th century. Johann Frisch is depicted with an open gesture of his hand, a symbol seen across time, from ancient orators to religious figures in Byzantine mosaics, each using it to signify openness and discourse. Consider, though, the subtle variations. While in earlier eras, this gesture was to invite and engage, here, in Frisch's portrait, it takes on a more mannered quality, a sign of enlightenment intellectualism. The book held firmly in his other hand grounds him in scholarly tradition, a marked contrast to the open palm suggesting rhetoric. It is through this tension between symbolic gestures of power and knowledge that we engage with a portrait which, while depicting an individual, speaks to broader cultural shifts and the enduring, evolving language of symbols. It shows us how gestures are reborn across eras, each time carrying the weight of historical memory, yet adapted to new cultural dialogues.