Enno II, vierde graaf van Oost-Friesland 1618 - 1620

Editor: So, this is "Enno II, fourth count of East Frisia," an engraving from somewhere around 1618 to 1620 by Pieter Feddes van Harlingen, currently residing in the Rijksmuseum. There’s something about the figure's pose and the detailed line work that gives it a sort of stately, but slightly stiff feeling. What do you make of it? Curator: Stately but stiff, you say? I love that! It strikes me as very much a product of its time—that very late Renaissance, early Baroque era. To me, the formality is intentional. It speaks to the power and importance Enno II wished to project. He seems like a fellow not to be trifled with. The clothing, the sword, even that wonderfully odd heraldic shield— it's all about status and lineage, wouldn't you agree? Do you see any particular symbolic references in the print? Editor: Hmm, you're right about the power play! The shield with what looks like a skeleton seems rather… grim, maybe warning rivals about death? It's an interesting contrast to the frilly hat, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Frilly, indeed! I always enjoy the juxtaposition of the somber and the ostentatious in these portraits. I also read it as representative of its geographical origin – the style is clearly of Northern European tradition, so it makes perfect sense the detail paid to textures: fur, metal, delicate cloth, all so meticulously rendered in lines and strokes. It all speaks to the artist’s skill. He wasn't just copying a face, but embodying an ideal. Editor: I didn't think about the detail as relating to Northern Renaissance style specifically! The texture really pops out now. It really pulls all the separate pieces into a striking image, wouldn’t you say? Curator: Exactly! And isn't that, in the end, what art should do? Draw you in, provoke a response, maybe even make you question your assumptions. And perhaps smile just a little? Editor: Definitely makes you think. There is always something to find in every piece, isn’t there?