Portret van een jongen met een witte kraag c. 1866 - 1900

Here we have a portrait made by Johan Christiaan Reesinck, capturing a young boy with a white collar. The collar itself is a powerful emblem. Once a signifier of servitude and later, clerical purity, the collar evolved into a symbol of bourgeois respectability, neatly framing the face as a window to the soul, reflecting innocence and social standing. The stark whiteness of the collar invites comparison to the ruffs of Renaissance portraits, echoing across centuries in a silent dialogue. Yet, here, the stiff formality is softened, adapted for a new age of burgeoning industrialism and shifting social structures. Consider this simple garment—it’s a marker not just of an individual, but of an era grappling with new definitions of childhood and class. It’s a visual echo of a past, reshaping itself, and reappearing in new forms.