Portret van Johann Christoph Wild 1743 - 1756

Curator: I find this baroque engraving so evocative. It's a portrait of Johann Christoph Wild, dating sometime between 1743 and 1756, crafted by Bernhard Gottlieb Fridrich. Editor: Oh, it's…stern. Very serious. Like someone just told him there's no more cake. And so precise, the linework. Almost feels like a photograph before they existed. Is that the style "old engraving style?" Curator: It is indeed, reflecting the artistry inherent in creating this type of print. Note the framing of Wild within an oval, almost as if he is permanently set apart from the temporal world—literally placed "on a pedestal"—his virtues there inscribed below in Latin, no less! It reflects an era invested in public virtues. He looks every bit the part, doesn't he? A man of consequence in his robes, bewigged and serious. We know from the Latin inscription below, that Wild served as city councillor in Regensburg and held multiple functions in the church's Consistory, was a city Scholarch and even envoy of the Empire. The attire communicates status but equally belonging, service, membership to the common project. Editor: I get it. All these symbolic trappings saying, "Respect this man." But behind the status, is he interesting? You know? I mean, the baroque artists liked drama, and maybe this isn’t it. What’s he really thinking under that impressive wig, or perhaps his status is meant to overshadow anything personal that remains unseen in the depth of his gaze? Curator: Precisely the right questions. I think by analyzing such a piece, we open a window into how identity and social role were performed and perceived back then. It begs examination of the political undertones. To what degree does one's own identity melt into a role within a system? Editor: So, it is a cake portrait, then. I guess I get that; art reflecting society, a structured, almost iced thing… Though, in retrospect, the quality is actually something, the more I look at the details of his features! I love that we get these glimpses into history through art. Curator: Me too, and I also realize how such encounters compel us to analyze how different these portraits and the contexts surrounding their subject are, as compared with modern-day photographic representations of leading figures. Editor: Exactly! It prompts a nice pause… Something to reflect on further.