Portret van Johannes Calvijn c. 1602 - 1652

Curator: Let's spend a few moments with this print entitled “Portret van Johannes Calvijn,” likely dating sometime between 1602 and 1652, by Fran\u00e7ois Stuerhelt. What are your immediate thoughts? Editor: My first thought is quiet contemplation. There's a solemnity to the image, a very intentional stillness. All those textures rendered so meticulously in engraving! The folds of the robe, the furrowed brow, and the pages of that weighty tome... It really invites you to linger, doesn’t it? Curator: Indeed. The engraving is rich in symbolic detail. The books, of course, signify Calvin's scholarship and the central role of scripture. Notice too, how light seems to fall primarily on him and the open book he reads from; everything about this work highlights interpretation and wisdom. Editor: And that intense focus! It's like he's wrestling with some profound idea right there, captured for eternity. It makes me wonder what exactly is running through his head. It is so heavy! And everything feels, dare I say, Protestant about it all – earnest, rigorous, scholarly. I get the distinct impression I’d get scolded for being flippant in this room. Curator: Exactly. And behind him you'll find this beautiful, ornate room in his house which, by the symbols that he keeps here, speaks of deep understanding. His surroundings were intended to represent God's Providence as promised in scripture. Editor: It is the visual definition of 'well-read!' Seriously though, that room becomes an extension of his own internal landscape, the book next to the tome beneath the table mirroring those texts upon that over-stuffed bookshelf. Every element tells us something about this historical, if unsmiling, personage. It really is striking when you think about it! Curator: And this image had to resonate so powerfully; imagine the influence this image had across generations. These portraits functioned to immortalize, yes, but to also carry certain ideals through visual cues. That severe focus conveyed seriousness, study, rigor—everything that he found fundamental. Editor: Looking at it again, there's such an austere dignity, the weight of theology visualized. It gets to you. Curator: It certainly leaves its mark. A powerful example of how visual imagery shapes and reinforces collective memory.