Silhouetportret Johannes Everhardus Voogt 1809 - 1848

Pieter Barbiers the fourth created this silhouette portrait of Johannes Everhardus Voogt using paper, and scissors. Silhouettes, popular since the 18th century, are powerful cultural symbols of memory. Consider the profile view, an ancient form seen in Egyptian art, depicting power and status. This echoes in Voogt's rigid posture, embodying authority. The silhouette, by reducing a person to their outline, evokes a sense of loss, of something missing. In ancient Greece, the act of tracing the shadow of a loved one was believed to capture and preserve their essence. This practice transcends time; consider the Victorian mourning jewelry embedding hair. The silhouette taps into our collective unconscious, reminding us of our mortality, and the fleeting nature of existence, triggering deep psychological responses. It's a shadow, a ghost of a person, endlessly reappearing in different forms across history.