Portret van een man met baard 1884 - 1890

Alexandre Crillon made this photograph, "Portret van een man met baard," using the then-novel medium of photography. The beard is a very obvious, and important feature. The beard, a symbol of wisdom, virility, and status. Throughout history, beards have signified power and maturity, from the pharaohs of ancient Egypt to the philosophers of Greece. Think of Zeus, his beard a signal of his supreme power, a motif echoed in countless portrayals of gods and patriarchs across cultures. Consider Michelangelo's Moses, his beard not merely facial hair but a torrent of divine authority. Yet, the beard is more than a marker of status. It is an assertion of identity, a conscious construction of self. This bearded gentleman presents himself to the world through the careful cultivation of his image, participating in a long, cyclical tradition of self-representation. As we have seen, the power of the image is not bound by time.