Portret van Felix Brennwald 1665 - 1712

Johannes Meyer the Younger made this engraving of Felix Brennwald, a Swiss politician, sometime around the turn of the 18th century. Images like this one are a window into the social and political world of the early modern period. Brennwald was a councilor in Zurich in the late 15th century. The text inscribed below the image identifies him as a man of the republic, a consul, and references his death. The Latin inscription tells of Brennwald defending a church against the French, and alludes to the strength of the Swiss confederacy. Prints like this played an important role in shaping collective memory and civic identity in Switzerland. By circulating images of important figures, artists like Meyer helped to construct a sense of shared history and values. To understand this image better, we can investigate the history of Zurich as a republic, and the role of figures like Brennwald in shaping its political institutions. These kinds of sources help us understand the image not just as a portrait, but as a statement about civic virtue, and Swiss national identity.