Zelfportret met Saskia 1863

Curator: Looking at "Self-Portrait with Saskia," rendered in 1863, it's an intaglio print drawing by Carel Christiaan Antony Last. Quite romantic, wouldn't you say? Editor: I see this incredible tenderness in the rendering, softened but clear in conveying a really personal feel…It's like eavesdropping on a quiet moment, the line quality almost vibrates with intimacy. What can you tell me about the symbolic resonance here? Curator: Last’s work clearly draws upon Romanticism's fascination with emotion, history, and an idealised past. The self-portrait taps into themes of domesticity and artistic genius, presenting the artist alongside his muse or loved one, Saskia. The use of pencil creates an immediate feel – one often associated with immediacy. Editor: Immediate and intimate, certainly. Saskia has an incredibly lovely but melancholic air around her; Rembrandt looks away as if lost in thought. Is there anything beyond historical convention going on here, beyond just the surface level historical costume? Curator: The layering and interplay, I believe, underscores ideas around public persona versus private self. Rembrandt, here, can be seen as both husband and creative mind. The hat can be viewed symbolically too; such garb signifies worldly power, the soft textures temper that sense with an intimacy rooted at hearthside. It offers glimpses of emotional insight—the depth achieved feels particularly intense thanks to Last’s masterful use of contrast. Editor: Contrast definitely heightens the narrative tension here. The fact it’s not technically Rembrandt, but someone reinterpreting him in the 19th century… there’s a ghostly quality. Like an echo resonating across time. Do you agree with that point? Curator: Most assuredly, yes! Indeed, through the artist, our perception changes in respect to a visual narrative now layered with more sentiment; indeed adding more nuanced ideas revolving history-making itself. Editor: Absolutely beautiful to experience an encounter across so many levels like this; a reminder that every artistic decision contains multitudes. Curator: It truly expands the conversation—touching upon art’s profound capacity not simply capture instants but also memorialise deeper human connections.