Christian Friedrich Blume 1748

Curator: It strikes me as both formal and a bit… theatrical, wouldn't you say? Like a character stepping out of a play. Editor: Indeed. This is a portrait of Christian Friedrich Blume by Georg Friedrich Schmidt. Schmidt, born in 1712, mastered the art of engraving, which is evident in the meticulous detail here. Curator: That robe! It's almost cascading off his shoulder. And the light catching those folds makes me wonder who Blume was. Editor: Schmidt was a master of portraiture, widely sought after in European courts. He renders Blume, whose name is inscribed at the base, with a degree of dignity fitting for the era. Note the oval frame, and the way the background is treated differently in the upper and lower portions of the print. Curator: It is a performance in presentation. Look at the man’s eyes; they seem to hold a gentle amusement, as if he knows the whole thing's a bit much. Editor: Perhaps. It also speaks to the conventions of representation and the public identities people crafted and circulated at the time. Curator: Absolutely, a constructed image—beautifully so. Editor: Yes, a window into a world carefully staged, both then and, in a way, now.