Portret van Polycarp Gottlieb Schacher

Johann Martin Bernigeroth created this print of Polycarp Gottlieb Schacher using etching and engraving techniques. The trappings of scholarship and wealth are on full display here. Made in the Holy Roman Empire, the sitter's attire and surroundings speak to the visual codes of status in the 18th Century. Schacher's wig, robe, and the books arrayed behind him broadcast his elevated position in society. Meanwhile, the cartouche below his image declares his many honorific titles and appointments. This image, then, is not only a record of Schacher's likeness, but also a document of the complex web of social and institutional power he inhabited. To truly understand the context of this portrait, we might turn to archives and libraries, where we could find records of the institutions Schacher belonged to, and better understand the social structures of his time. The art historian sees the art object as a key to unlocking the social world in which it was made.