Brustbild eines Mannes nach rechts 

Editor: So, here we have what's known as "Bust of a Man facing right" – a drawing in ink and charcoal by Aert Schouman, although the dating is unknown. It's currently residing at the Städel Museum. My initial feeling? The expression seems so intense, like he's about to either scold or profoundly enlighten someone. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Oh, he's definitely got a story to tell, hasn’t he? Look at that gesture – that’s not just any hand, it’s practically Shakespearean! For me, portraits are whispers from the past. And with Schouman working between the Baroque and a touch of Mannerism, there's this beautiful push and pull between drama and elegant refinement. Do you see the caricatural touch in his face, almost poking fun at the gravitas of traditional portraiture? Editor: I do see it! It’s almost… cheeky. He looks very self-aware. It doesn’t feel like a formal portrait, even though the style and clothing might suggest that. It feels like a fleeting moment captured. Curator: Exactly! And consider this—it's a drawing. Schouman wasn't after the high gloss of oil paint. He was digging for something raw, something immediate. That ink and charcoal allow a freedom, a quickness, to seize the likeness. And maybe the *idea* of the man, too. Imagine him sketched rapidly in candlelight. Editor: So it's less about immortalizing this particular man, but more about capturing the human condition or some part of it. Like, maybe that feeling when you’re about to give someone really important news? Curator: Precisely. We all carry little tempests within us, don't we? Schouman caught one. Or maybe it’s just that I like to find little dramas in every corner, like clues to a mystery only art can solve. What do you make of his eyes, what secret might those harbor? Editor: Well, I like the way you frame this drawing, because I might have skipped past it otherwise. Curator: It’s easy to do! There’s so much to see. But it is such fun, finding echoes of ourselves in these glimpses into history.