Portret van Girolamo Savonarola 1682

Curator: Here we have Edme de Boulonois' 1682 engraving, "Portret van Girolamo Savonarola," currently held in the Rijksmuseum collection. Editor: It's stark, isn't it? Gives me the impression of peering back through time, the weight of history etched right onto his face with each tiny line. Somber, imposing… but undeniably powerful. Curator: That intensity is palpable. Boulonois was working almost two centuries after Savonarola's death, placing this within a Baroque sensibility but with a nod to academic portraiture. The image becomes about mythmaking, consolidating Savonarola’s image as a historical figure, for better or worse, Editor: A man holding a small book… it must be scripture. You can almost feel his fervent devotion and the unwavering belief he’s chosen the right path. Curator: Absolutely. This engraving circulated widely. Consider the context; images were tools to convey the messages that supported various agendas in post-Reformation Europe. Even in the seemingly neutral act of portraying an individual. He certainly divided opinion during his lifetime, and these sorts of portraits sustained those arguments centuries later. Editor: He looks trapped, almost, confined by the expectations imposed on him – both divinely and publicly. I get this strong sense of a spirit straining against earthly limitations, searching for something...more. It is the beauty and the curse of being the voice of the people, to carry the unbearable weight and stand by your truth. Curator: It’s a compelling thought, especially when we consider the role of the printing press in amplifying Savonarola's sermons and, subsequently, these later representations. Boulonois capitalizes on that legacy by translating a familiar and well-distributed image into another accessible format. How’s that for creating the "original" viral content! Editor: Viral content! A strange reality check. It leaves you pondering on what endures beyond the paper, and whether he’d think we grasped any of it at all.