Portret van Johannes Henricus, baron van Schütz 1683 - 1750

Editor: So, this is an engraving of Johannes Henricus, Baron van Schütz, by Johann Balthasar Probst. It seems to date somewhere between 1683 and 1750. It's quite imposing! What stands out to you most about this portrait? Curator: Imposing is right! What captivates me is the wig. I mean, truly, the baroque commitment to artifice. But behind that theatrical hair is a gaze – steady, perhaps a little weary. It speaks of power, yes, but also of responsibility, a sense of duty weighed against the extravagant trappings of status. Doesn't it make you wonder what was truly important to this man? Beyond the titles and the powdered wig? Editor: That's interesting, I hadn’t thought of it that way. I was too busy focusing on the frame within a frame and all the tiny details of the engraving! The weight of responsibility, as you say... Curator: Precisely! Probst doesn't simply offer us a picture of wealth; there’s almost a quiet invitation to consider the human being beneath the surface. Consider how the light catches the baron’s face versus how it glints off of his robe. It's almost as though Probst asks us: which is the genuine article and which the veneer? It makes one ponder identity and presentation, even today. What do *you* make of all those Latin phrases at the bottom? Editor: Okay, that throws a new light on things! I confess I just glossed over them as fancy lettering. They almost form another, smaller, frame. Maybe they are more window than frame? They hint at accomplishments and affiliations. The sitter clearly intended to make some declarations to the world. Curator: Absolutely. We might perceive just a period piece at first glance, but closer inspection, it appears as though van Schütz and Probst together composed an elaborate statement for posterity to ponder. Each element works together to say: remember me. And look at what I did! I now realize this portrait may have something very poignant to tell us, a longing to matter.