Portrait of Michiel de Ruyter before 1681

Rombout Verhulst sculpted this terracotta portrait of Michiel de Ruyter, the famous Dutch admiral. The closed eyes are a striking element. They evoke contemplation and inner strength, but also bring to mind the tradition of funerary sculpture. Consider the death masks of antiquity, where the closed eyes signified a passage to another realm. Yet, even in life, this motif appears; think of depictions of philosophers or wise men, eyes closed in deep thought, transcending the mundane world. Across time, the symbolic weight of closed eyes has shifted. From ancient death rites to Renaissance depictions of spiritual awakening, and even, as we see here, to the veneration of a national hero, who seems to be listening to the echoes of the sea. It reflects our collective memory of great leaders or thinkers, now frozen in timeless reflection. The slumber calls out.