Portret van Willem Goeree 1711 - 1731

This engraving, titled "Portret van Willem Goeree," was created by Pieter van Gunst, an engraver active in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. The portrait offers insight into the cultural and intellectual milieu of the Dutch Golden Age. Goeree, the subject, born in 1635, was an artist, an antiquarian, and a writer, all occupations that speak to the period's burgeoning interest in the arts, sciences, and history. In the 17th century, the Dutch Republic saw the rise of a prosperous middle class, and along with it, new attitudes about the individual. The engraving captures more than just Goeree's likeness; it reflects the values and aspirations of a society in transition. Consider the detailed rendering of his features, which invites us into the gaze of a thinking man, one defined by his intellectual pursuits. Van Gunst’s work is a testament to the period’s evolving self-conception, and the growing importance of personal identity within the broader historical narrative.