Portret van Johann Caspar Schade 1721 - 1771

Editor: This print, "Portret van Johann Caspar Schade," by Johann David Schleuen, created sometime between 1721 and 1771, depicts a stern-looking man surrounded by books and draped fabric. It has such a formal, almost academic air to it. What sociopolitical dynamics do you see represented here? Curator: What strikes me is the tension between the visual signifiers of power and the inscribed texts surrounding Schade. Consider the books, suggesting intellectual authority, juxtaposed with the Baroque drapery, signaling wealth and status. But what happens when we delve into the text, the identity claims inscribed? It speaks to "labour and prayer" as having aged him – what work is obscured in this account? Whose labor afforded Schade leisure time to write, to be educated? Editor: That’s interesting. So, you’re saying it's a portrait that actively obscures the social conditions that allowed this man to be portrayed in such a way? Curator: Precisely. It performs power but also hints at underlying structures of inequality. Think about printmaking itself. It democratized images, yes, but it also replicated hierarchies and the narratives those in power wanted circulated. Who was this print for, and what purpose did it serve? Consider this an argument or advertisement— for whom and why? Editor: So, analyzing the visual elements and the text gives us a fuller, more critical understanding of the social realities of the time, not just a surface-level portrait. I never would have considered that. Curator: Exactly! Art provides an opportunity to not just observe history, but question its very construction and the underlying power dynamics in play. Editor: That’s a new way of thinking about art for me, I’ll keep this in mind.