Portret van Thomas More 1781

Editor: This is the "Portrait of Thomas More," an engraving made in 1781 by Johann Heinrich Lips, currently held in the Rijksmuseum. The portrait looks really stern, and somehow vulnerable. How do you interpret this work? Curator: Well, let's start with Thomas More himself. He was a complex figure – a lawyer, social philosopher, statesman, and humanist – ultimately executed for treason because he wouldn't swear the Oath of Supremacy declaring King Henry VIII head of the Church of England. Think about the power dynamics at play here: religion versus the state, individual conscience versus royal decree. Editor: Right, he refused to compromise his beliefs. Curator: Exactly. And Lips created this engraving centuries later during the Neoclassical period. This style valued order, reason, and a return to classical ideals, which can be seen here in the precise lines and structured composition. But Lips was also Swiss. How might his own identity and context have informed his depiction of More's defiance of English authority? Editor: So you're saying the image might reflect not only More's story but also the political climate during Lips' time? A commentary, perhaps, on resisting oppressive structures? Curator: Precisely! Consider how printmaking, as a medium, democratized images and ideas, facilitating broader discussions on freedom, belief, and power. What does that say about access to images and the public? Editor: That's really fascinating; I hadn't considered that. Seeing this as more than just a portrait but as a statement about resistance and accessibility changes everything. Curator: Art can invite us to re-examine histories of power, faith, and the struggles for individual liberty, connecting figures like More to contemporary battles for justice and equality. Editor: Definitely, this makes me appreciate how historical artworks are constantly evolving in meaning when viewed from new perspectives!