Portret van Willem Lodewijk, graaf van Nassau-Dillenburg 1840 - 1884

Curator: We're standing before a print from sometime between 1840 and 1884 by Jan Frederik Christiaan Reckleben. It's a portrait of Willem Lodewijk, Graaf van Nassau-Dillenburg. Editor: Immediately, I’m struck by the precision of the lines, the almost photographic detail rendered through the medium of engraving. You can practically feel the weight of that armor. Curator: Engraving really was the printing method du jour for distributing imagery back then. Think of the skill, the hours etched onto the metal plate just to disseminate an image of a local noble. The intense labour feels almost invisible to us now. Editor: And what's remarkable is how Reckleben uses this mechanical reproduction to imbue Willem Lodewijk with a very specific character. Stern, capable…you almost expect him to address you with orders! Curator: It's funny you say that, it is textbook Neoclassicism. A style practically obsessed with projecting power. Everything from the stiff pose to that wonderfully ostentatious ruff speaks to it. The way his family crest is presented could itself launch a thousand ships! Editor: The layers of craft here interest me. There is metalwork in Willem Lodewijk's armour. Then the engraver’s tools creating the image before it's reproduced… So much manual effort dedicated to creating status. Curator: I do wonder what the intended audience made of it all. The print wasn't really about intimacy or revelation, but about publicly broadcasting social hierarchy through aesthetics. Editor: I can imagine then that the crisp lines were probably seen as signs of worth, rather than merely aesthetic choices, a bit like evaluating the quality of a woven cloth. Curator: Right! It really calls us to remember art exists inside these networks of labour, material, and class. I may never see engravings in quite the same way again! Editor: Agreed, next time I'm more sure that I am seeing past the stern face, I see a whole production network.