Portret van Justinus Göbler 1566

This 1564 print by Jost Amman at the Rijksmuseum commemorates Justinus Göbler, and presents a powerful image of legal and scholarly authority. Framed in a circle, Göbler is inscribed with the title ‘Doctor Iuris Consultus’. Here, the circle is not merely decorative. It echoes back to antiquity and the Renaissance emblem books, where the circle represents perfection, completeness, and, importantly, the cyclical nature of time. The portrait shows a man in his sixties, his face etched with wisdom and experience, suggesting a lineage of knowledge passed down through generations. His beard is long and full, a symbol of wisdom reminiscent of ancient philosophers and biblical patriarchs. The gaze, directed slightly to the right, implies a forward-looking perspective, a readiness to confront the future with the lessons of the past. Consider the eternal return of such archetypes in art—the wise elder, the embodiment of experience. Like the ancient Roman busts of philosophers, this image taps into our collective memory, evoking respect and a deep-seated reverence for knowledge. The image reminds us that the pursuit of wisdom is not bound by time. It is a journey through history that finds new expression in every age.