Portret van Georg Cassander

Hendrik Bary made this portrait of Georg Cassander in the 17th century using etching. Cassander, a Catholic theologian, lived during the tumultuous years of the Reformation, a period marked by profound religious and political upheaval. Bary’s engraving encapsulates this tension, framing Cassander with symbols of mortality and virtue, allegorical figures, and emblems of spiritual conflict. The Latin phrase above Cassander translates to "When, finally?", a lament that speaks to the period's pervasive sense of crisis and the yearning for resolution amidst religious strife. Cassander sought to reconcile Protestant and Catholic doctrines. His beliefs positioned him as a figure of mediation, attempting to bridge the growing divide between the two religious factions. Bary mirrors Cassander's conciliatory stance, in his rendering of a man caught between two worlds, a man who, through his work and image, sought to mend a fractured society.