Portret van Richard Brakenburg 1690

This is a charcoal drawing of Richard Brakenburg by an anonymous artist. Enclosed in an oval frame, Brakenburg is identified as ‘Pictor Harlemensis’ along the upper curve. The oval, a shape with roots stretching back to antiquity, speaks to something beyond the mere likeness of the subject. Think of the ovals used in ancient Roman portraiture, often adorning rings or cameos. The oval is not just a frame, but a form that lends a sense of completion, a cycle. It is a motif seen through the ages, suggesting containment. It evokes a sense of something eternal, much like the human desire to capture and preserve the essence of a person. Through the recurring motif of the oval, we confront the timeless dance between mortality and memory, as artists throughout history have sought to immortalize their subjects. This is the eternal life of images, how they carry emotional and psychological resonance through time.