Portret van Albrecht Haller 1820 - 1828

Ambroise Tardieu created this portrait of Albrecht Haller using engraving techniques sometime around the late 18th or early 19th century. Note how the subject is framed within an oval, a stylistic choice that evokes classical antiquity and Renaissance portraiture, a signifier of learning, humanism, and refinement. This echoes Haller's own status as a celebrated physician, anatomist, physiologist, and botanist. It’s also worth noting he was a professor at the University of Gottingen, an institution founded in the German enlightenment that had a big impact on the development of modern science. Images like this circulated widely, contributing to Haller's fame and reinforcing the cultural value placed on scientific expertise. As historians, we can delve into archives and libraries to examine letters, publications, and institutional records of the time. By doing so we can unlock the complex interplay between individuals, institutions, and the broader currents of intellectual and social history.