Portret van Julius Caesar 1745

This is Jan Caspar Philips’s portrait of Julius Caesar, made sometime in the 18th century. It is an engraving on paper now held in the Rijksmuseum. The Roman statesman Julius Caesar is presented here as a bust in profile, crowned with laurel. Above it are two coins with scenes from his life. The image of Caesar had a particular resonance in the 18th century, when many European nations, including the Dutch Republic where Philips lived, began to define themselves as republics modeled on that of ancient Rome. Caesar, of course, brought the Roman Republic to an end by making himself dictator. It is important to remember that, particularly prior to the era of photography, all images are to some extent interpretations, and that those interpretations can reflect the particular political commitments of the artist and the institutions with which he or she is associated. To understand this portrait fully, we need to understand the different and contradictory meanings of the Roman Republic in the 18th century.