Portret van een man met baret c. 1774 - 1808

Johan Antoni Kauclitz Colizzi etched this portrait of a man with a beret around the late 18th century. The beret, a soft, round cap, has long been a symbol of the learned and the artistic. Consider, for instance, its presence in Renaissance portraits, signaling a humanist intellectualism, connecting the wearer to classical ideals. Here, the beret lends the man an air of contemplative wisdom, though his gaze drifts away from us, perhaps lost in thought. This motif echoes through centuries, evolving from a marker of status to a symbol of revolutionary spirit. Think of the berets worn by artists like Rembrandt, or even later by Che Guevara. This simple headwear carries a resonance that taps into our collective memory, a shared understanding of intellect, artistry, and defiance. It's a subtle yet powerful reminder of how images accumulate layers of meaning across time.