Christian V 1655

Curator: Here we have a print by Albert Haelwegh dating from 1655, titled "Christian V". It resides here at the SMK, the Statens Museum for Kunst. Editor: My initial impression is one of somewhat unsettling regality. The young man’s eyes are very wide and it has a certain formal rigidity to it, although the lines are elegant, clean. Curator: This engraving reflects the broader context of royal portraiture during the Baroque period, particularly the construction of identity through material culture and social position. The work's symbolism—armor and a formal wig—presents the young royal as an embodiment of power, ordained by legacy. Editor: Precisely. And it’s crucial to note the materiality here. It's an engraving, a painstaking, laborious process. Think of the skilled labor required to produce the plates for dissemination. Each line is carved with intention. Curator: The figure of Christian V also fits neatly within the history-painting and figuration theme we often find in portraits. I'm curious, what does the print medium itself, enable, and constrain in the visual representation of power? Editor: An engraving allowed for multiples; these portraits were instruments of soft power. We see evidence here of artistic production intersecting with dynastic aims; these pieces weren't merely aesthetic. And there’s a consumption aspect, too. Curator: Looking at the relationship between this specific portrayal and Christian’s later actions offers a compelling intersectional lens. Is it mere happenstance that he ended up trying to centralize authority later, or was he shaped, pressured, even pushed to embody that strength. Editor: Right, by looking closer at this print we can almost reverse engineer these pieces, deconstructing the labor that's visible—but more significantly the apparatus that might not be. Curator: It prompts a reflection, doesn't it? About identity and how visual culture actively produces those identities. Editor: Definitely, understanding its genesis makes me consider what even appears in an aesthetic vacuum really isn't.