Portret van Michäel de Dappere 1675

Johann Alexander Böner created this portrait of Michael the Brave using etching. The most striking symbol here is the turban adorned with a jewel and feathers, a motif historically associated with rulers of the Ottoman Empire and, more broadly, with figures of power and authority in the East. The turban, in its various forms, appears across centuries and cultures, from the turbans worn by Persian emperors in ancient times to the elaborate headgear depicted in Renaissance paintings of the Magi. Its significance morphs, sometimes representing exoticism, sometimes nobility, and, at other times, the perceived threat of the "other." Consider how the turban, initially a symbol of regal status and religious identity, becomes, in the European imagination, laden with anxieties about foreign dominance. This transformation reveals our collective subconscious, how symbols can become vessels for both admiration and fear, continually reshaped by the tides of history and psychological projection. It serves as a potent reminder of how cultural memory operates.