Portret van Rosso Fiorentino 1682

Editor: This is Nicolas de Larmessin's "Portret van Rosso Fiorentino," from 1682, held here at the Rijksmuseum. It’s a print, an engraving, really detailed. It's giving me strong Baroque vibes, all those swirling lines...I wonder, what’s your take on this portrait? Curator: Ah, yes. An engraving that tries to hold a man. Larmessin's Fiorentino stares off, seemingly lost in thought, a cascade of beard consuming his chest, and the eyes...have you ever noticed how much the eyes communicate in these portraits? What do they tell you, here? Editor: Well, I see… determination? Maybe a bit of melancholy? It's hard to tell. What strikes me is the detail in his hands—they look so expressive! Curator: Exactly! Look how the lines carve out his veins, his knuckles, as if revealing the map of a life dedicated to craft. There's such care lavished on hands that themselves are the vehicle for creating beauty. It speaks to the very nature of artistry, doesn't it? An interesting juxtaposition. It looks like the artist is making an implicit link between artistry and perhaps aging as well, since those kind of very careful lines detailing someone's hands don't usually apply to a young subject. Editor: That’s a great point. I hadn’t considered that the artist wanted to say something about aging through his rendering of the hands and maybe the facial details. So interesting. Curator: Absolutely. Portraits like this whisper stories of artists honoring other artists. I can appreciate Larmessin capturing the humanity, capturing the tools, and his hand perhaps suggesting something about the person. In some ways all art is really about memory. Editor: Memory—I love that thought to leave with.