Zelfportret van Lambertus Johannes Hansen 1842

Lambertus Johannes Hansen created this drawing on paper, presenting two lunette designs filled with detailed ornamentation. The monochrome palette allows us to focus on the meticulous detail and the artist’s skill in creating depth through shading. Notice how each half-circle teems with symbolic imagery. On the left, a caduceus is framed by overflowing cornucopias, suggesting abundance and commerce. The right lunette features crossed wheat shafts, perhaps alluding to agriculture and prosperity. Ribbons elegantly tie the elements together, enhancing the design's symmetry and balance. These meticulously rendered compositions can be viewed as representations of cultural values and perhaps reflections of Hansen’s understanding of societal structures. Through his artistic vision, Hansen offers not merely a decorative sketch but a semiotic reflection on the themes of wealth and health in society. The very form of the lunette, traditionally placed above doorways, hints at the symbolic entrance into spaces blessed with these virtues.