Portret van kardinaal Ulderico Carpegna 1658

This is Giuseppe Maria Testana’s engraving “Portret van kardinaal Ulderico Carpegna.” Testana created this portrait within the artistic and social milieu of seventeenth-century Europe, a period marked by significant religious and political tensions. Carpegna’s stern gaze speaks to the power and authority vested in his position within the Catholic Church. The visual language of the portrait, including the cardinal’s garb and the heraldic symbols, reinforces a narrative of lineage and ecclesiastical power. As a Cardinal he was at the centre of a deeply hierarchical, patriarchal structure. The portrait invites reflection on the role of religious figures in shaping societal norms and power dynamics during the early modern period. What does it mean to be an individual? What is the relationship between individuality and institutional identity? This portrait speaks to the individual and the institution.