Portret van Cosimo III de' Medici, groothertog van Toscane 1680 - 1733

Editor: So, this is a print titled "Portret van Cosimo III de' Medici, groothertog van Toscane," dating somewhere between 1680 and 1733, by Martin Bernigeroth. It's currently housed in the Rijksmuseum. I find the subject's gaze so compelling, yet something about it feels distant. What's your take on this portrait? Curator: Ah, yes, Cosimo III. There’s a certain melancholic air to these Baroque portraits, isn’t there? Almost as if they're already anticipating their place in history, gathering dust behind velvet ropes. What strikes me is the contrast – the armor representing strength, contrasted by the slightly weary expression. Do you get the sense of a performance? It’s history presented with a flourish, but you almost get a glimpse of humanity. What do you think that contrast represents, between the subject and his symbols? Editor: It’s as if he’s weighed down by the expectations of his role. The armor looks more like a burden than a symbol of power. Maybe he wasn't really a warrior. Curator: Precisely! It makes you wonder about the man beneath the finery, doesn't it? Bernigeroth probably never met Cosimo III – engravings often disseminated images of important figures. It invites us to imagine our own narrative about him. What stories do you think it tells? Is he heroic? Careworn? Editor: Careworn for sure. But also cunning. Perhaps he made some shady deals that didn’t leave him resting easy at night. I guess he wouldn’t be the first. Curator: Shady deals or not, there's a certain intimacy the artist captured, and there's the mark of history, however manufactured, in it. It's more a glimpse behind the public image, wouldn’t you agree? And for all our own projections about the past! It's endlessly fascinating, isn't it? Editor: It really is. I’m going to look at these portraits completely differently from now on! Thank you for shining a new light on it.