Portret van onbekende militair 1823

This is a lithograph of an unknown military man by Christian Heinrich Gottlieb Steuerwald. The rigid posture, buttoned jacket, and prominent epaulette are not merely details, they are symbols of power, order, and duty that have echoed through centuries of military portraiture. Consider how the image of a soldier, adorned with markers of rank and martial prowess, has been consistently employed across cultures, from ancient Roman busts to Napoleonic paintings. The uniform, a visual shorthand for institutional authority, speaks volumes. This symbol of disciplined strength, however, has evolved. In earlier times, it might have been a suit of armor, an emblem of personal valor. Yet, here, it signifies something more: the individual subsumed into the collective, a cog in the machinery of the state. The epaulette, once a functional defense, has become a decorative emblem, a symbol of status. Such imagery taps into our collective memory of past conflicts, conjuring both admiration and a deep, subconscious unease. As we gaze upon this portrait, we are not just seeing a soldier, we are confronting the enduring, often contradictory, symbols of military power.