Portret van Torquato Tasso 1630

Curator: Well, look at this. It's got that old soul quality, like gazing into a perfectly still pond, you know? A quiet fellow with discerning eyes! Editor: Indeed! We are looking at a piece titled "Portret van Torquato Tasso," created around 1630 by Jerôme David. It's an engraving, a print etched using an intaglio process. What captures you so strongly in this image? Curator: It's the stillness, truly. The detail of the lines. The oval, that frame feels like peering into another dimension of being! And I adore the Baroque, but stripped bare. This portrait breathes. You sense, somehow, the man had a melancholy song playing just for him. Editor: And melancholy wasn't far from Tasso's life; a poet and contemporary of figures like Palestrina, but he famously suffered bouts of mental instability, spending periods confined in institutions, even while lauded for his poetry. One wonders if David intended that air of introspective suffering. Engravings like this had a purpose. Curator: Did they ever! So much art and function at play, simultaneously. You are saying this was used almost like social media of the era to capture this man. And yet so powerful for the soul too. So, did these portraits shape the cultural identity and the popular narrative about people? I wonder, did Torquato ever feel that was really him? Editor: In a sense, these portraits certainly did that; shaping and circulating identity amongst elites. How a person was seen could affect everything from patronage to their legacy. The institutions had a huge impact, and art, such as this engraving, was a political medium used to define greatness in those times. This also connects directly with discussions around celebrity today, so that’s amazing. Curator: So even centuries apart we still want the same feeling! You're right. In today’s fame factories it has that haunting resemblance to an Instagram photo of your favorite celebrity, I had never thought about it that way. We really all connect throughout history with something. Beautifully melancholic. Editor: Indeed! An echo through the ages. Let's carry on to see where other echoes resonate in our collection.