Brustbild eines kahlköpfigen alten Mannes, im Profil nach links 

Curator: Here we have an interesting drawing; it’s titled “Bust of a Bald-Headed Old Man, Profiled to the Left,” currently residing here at the Städel Museum. It’s rendered in ink and charcoal, giving it a stark, compelling quality. Editor: He looks contemplative, perhaps a bit world-weary. The monochrome palette and the stark profile create an almost sculptural feel. There’s a real gravity to his presence. Curator: Absolutely. It's part of a broader tradition of portraiture meant to capture something about the individual but also about archetypes. In this period, capturing character through physiognomy was very popular. We need to find out more about Johann Andreas Benjamin Nothnagel, the artist who conceived of the piece, because such imagery reveals a lot about status in the context of art history. Editor: I'm struck by the texture the artist has created, especially in the fur collar. Fur, across cultures, has always been connected to status. This man's cloak makes him more noble. It frames a face lined with time. I wonder about his story. What symbols would someone in the eighteenth century automatically associate with baldness? Curator: Well, baldness can certainly indicate age and experience. During the 18th century, artistic institutions were establishing strict rules, which gave them considerable influence over style, the artists they chose to exhibit and commission works from. If we were able to contextualize his portrait through a more thorough archeological examination of that time, then this work could possibly be reattributed to an artist under Nothnagel's instruction. Editor: That's a fair assessment. What intrigues me is how much personality comes through despite the limitations of the medium and style. You feel like you almost know him, which might be a sign that a better-known, established master may have completed the piece. I keep thinking that if a painting could somehow express a shared understanding between the sitter and artist. Curator: This portrait offers much to unpack; in doing so we are, in a way, doing our small part to honor an icon long after the culture for which he lived ended. Editor: Precisely, it keeps a cultural dialogue open across centuries, and it lets the symbolic language within resonate again, revealing something about the universality of experience.