Portret van Conrad Lautenbach 1597 - 1599

Curator: Right in front of us, we have a fascinating engraving from the late 16th century, specifically from around 1597 to 1599. This "Portret van Conrad Lautenbach," is housed right here at the Rijksmuseum, created by Robert Boissard. What captures your eye first? Editor: The detail, of course! Look at the weight of that fur trim and the delicate cross-hatching Boissard uses to create shadows. But there's also something…stark about the composition, a sort of intellectual austerity that pulls you in. Curator: It certainly reflects the Northern Renaissance aesthetic. I see meticulous detailing that really allows the materiality of the engraving process to shine through. It is worth pausing and pondering the significance of portraiture during this period and how it was evolving to present individual identity. Editor: Agreed, you can really lose yourself in the play of light and shadow and line here. Beyond the sitter's fur, I'm interested in the fact that Conrad Lautenbach, a historian, theologian and poet is pictured. Curator: It certainly places a greater weight of the object of his held book! Editor: Exactly! Do you see the placement within the ornamental frame, surrounded by scholarly and historical symbols, gives him that authority—suggests layers of learnedness we are yet to uncover? Curator: It also gives some clue as to the place Lautenbach held in society at the time! Also notice that even with the symmetry and very refined skill on display in the portrait itself, you can still sense a kind of inner…I don’t know…a kind of psychological searching in the way Boissard has captured Lautenbach’s gaze? I also wonder what his views were given this image was produced during the peak of the Reformation… Editor: Mmhmm! And the frame does so much work as well; that Latin inscription and use of humanist typography feels like another subtle signifier. It whispers of rhetorical tradition while announcing Conrad as one who not only embodies knowledge but produces it too. Boissard doesn’t leave a single aspect to chance it seems. Curator: So very true, I can understand the weight of the history embedded in this object so much more now. It’s always amazing what can come alive from a closer inspection.