Portret van Frederik Willem II, koning van Pruisen 1794

Editor: This is Charles Howard Hodges' "Portrait of Frederick William II, King of Prussia", from 1794. It's a pastel drawing. Something about the expression seems a bit...vacant, doesn't it? What do you see in this piece, something I might be missing? Curator: Vacant, perhaps. Or maybe just incredibly, wonderfully bored by the whole charade of being royalty. Hodges captures a certain weariness, don't you think? Look at the subtle droop of the mouth, the way the eyes seem to glaze over. The man's practically radiating ennui! I imagine him thinking, "Another portrait? Oh, blast." Editor: That's an interesting take! I hadn't considered boredom, more just… blandness. So, the softness of the pastel… do you think that adds to this feeling? Curator: Absolutely. Pastel has this dreamy quality, a softness that softens even the most stoic of expressions. It’s almost like Hodges is using the medium to subtly undercut the king’s authority. A whisper of dissent, perhaps? Also note that the details are incredible when we zoom in - something lost if it were a big imposing oil painting. Editor: A whispered rebellion through soft colours. Clever. Curator: Art always talks even without permission to do so. Editor: Well, now I’m seeing a whole different portrait! It is almost tragic that with that costume on we miss how "normal" it seems. Curator: Exactly! It's about finding the little human moments, isn’t it? Editor: Thanks for the insight. I will try to think of that whispered dissent next time I look at portraiture.