Portret van predikant Jan Jacob Denier van der Gon 1822 - 1845

This undated print portrays Jan Jacob Denier van der Gon, a preacher, made by an anonymous artist. The stark simplicity and direct gaze carry echoes of earlier, more explicitly religious portraiture. Notice the glasses, a relatively new symbol in the 18th century, signifying intellect and modernity. Yet, they also evoke a longer lineage of lenses and optics linked to knowledge, insight, and even spiritual vision. Think back to Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, where the mirror symbolizes all-seeing awareness. Here, the glasses, in a way, serve a similar function. This notion of sight as a metaphor for understanding and moral clarity is potent. The unconscious desire to see and to know—a deeply embedded human drive—is at play. Such symbols carry a psychological weight. The glasses, more than mere aids to vision, become emblems of enlightenment, reinforcing the preacher’s role as a guide and interpreter. This visual language taps into a reservoir of collective memory, a testament to the enduring power of symbols.