Portret van een man met een geplooide kraag 1734 - 1785

Jan Stolker created this portrait of a man with a pleated collar using black chalk and graphite around the 18th century. The sitter’s gaze meets ours, his expression unreadable. His dark jacket contrasts sharply with the crisp white ruff, a symbol of status in the Dutch Golden Age. Stolker, working in a society structured by class and commerce, would have been deeply aware of the semiotics of appearance. The meticulous detail in rendering the ruff, drawing attention to the sitter’s affluence and position, speaks to the economic priorities of the time. The very act of commissioning a portrait was a declaration of one's place in society. However, the man's face, etched with the marks of time and experience, complicates this picture of aristocratic privilege. What stories do you imagine are etched in the lines of his face? Stolker’s portrait invites us to look beyond the symbols of status to the individual, prompting reflections on identity, class, and the human condition.