Buste van een Poolse man met snor en muts met pluim 1620 - 1664

Stefano della Bella made this engraving of a Polish man some time in the mid-seventeenth century. This image offers a glimpse into the cultural fascination with foreign dress during that period. Prints like these, often sold as individual sheets or bound into albums, served as visual records of the world. In representing a man from Poland, Della Bella participates in a broader European interest in documenting and classifying different cultures and ethnicities. Notice how the man’s distinctive clothing – his fur hat with a plume, and elaborate cloak – define him as Polish. These visual codes were easily recognizable to viewers at the time, and spoke to then-contemporary notions of national identity and difference. To fully understand this print, we can consult period costume books, travel narratives, and ethnographic studies, found in libraries and archives. By situating the image in its historical context, we gain insight into the social and cultural dynamics that shaped its creation and reception.