Reproductie van een prent van een portret van Julius Caesar Scaliger door Hendrick Goltzius before 1880

This is a reproduction of a print of a portrait of Julius Caesar Scaliger, made by an anonymous artist after Hendrick Goltzius. Scaliger was a humanist scholar whose identity was rooted in his claim to belong to the noble Scaligeri family of Verona, constructing an origin story to claim elite status. In this portrait, we see an assertion of authority through the use of classical motifs and the Latin inscription which frames his likeness, presenting Scaliger as a figure of immense intellectual importance. Note how the images of the classical gods Apollo and Minerva adorn the portrait, associating Scaliger with wisdom and the arts. Yet, the image also performs identity, inventing a past for its subject. Consider the layers of representation here: an anonymous artist reproducing Goltzius's print, itself a construction of Scaliger’s self-fashioned identity. This reproduction opens up questions about authenticity, legacy, and the stories we tell ourselves and each other. What does it mean to reproduce an image that is already a constructed version of reality?