Man naar rechts, gekleed volgens de mode van ca. 1630 c. 1620

Curator: Salomon Savery created this ink and coloured pencil drawing on paper around 1620. It is held at the Rijksmuseum and is titled "Man naar rechts, gekleed volgens de mode van ca. 1630"—"Man facing right, dressed in the fashion of about 1630." Editor: Right, first thought: melancholy. He’s got such a defeated slouch, hasn’t he? Even his plume seems droopy. It’s as if the weight of fashion itself is bearing him down! Curator: It’s fascinating to consider how dress served as a powerful signifier in the 17th century. Here, the sitter’s clothing explicitly dates him. But it's equally important to unpack what it means to depict someone *according* to fashion – whose standards, which privileges are centered? Editor: Good point. Though, thinking about it, there's a quirky pride in the tilt of his feathered hat and his carefully pointed mustache! Maybe I misread him – is it defiance, not melancholy? And what is he looking at... some sort of parade of tiny figures behind him? And that sad, solemn-looking dog! It almost makes me want to rewrite his narrative – give him some agency. Maybe he’s just waiting to prank the other aristocrats in the distance, that his sadness is sarcastic and staged. Curator: Your response beautifully illustrates how art acts as an instigator. Savery, intentionally or otherwise, prompts our analysis of this man’s social positioning in early 17th century Dutch society, triggering questions about identity, status, and perhaps even nascent forms of social critique. Editor: Right, right – critical stuff, but hey – all I see is someone pretending to be above it all while his little dog judges him. He has secrets. I can feel it. Curator: And, through that imagined secret, the work creates space for our own stories too. Editor: Precisely! He is asking me something and dare I ask him back? It's an open ended question!