Bust of an Old Man with a Fur Collar 1620 - 1674

Curator: We are looking at "Bust of an Old Man with a Fur Collar" by Jan Lievens, dating to somewhere between 1620 and 1674. This is a striking piece held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Lievens, a contemporary of Rembrandt, created this image using etching and graphite. Editor: There's a starkness to it, isn't there? The subject seems so intensely… there. The rough etching gives a sense of immediacy, like a snatched glimpse. He feels very present. Curator: Precisely. Lievens masterfully utilizes the etching technique to build form. The varying densities of line create texture, particularly evident in the fur collar. This highlights not just the physical form but also the play of light and shadow. It adds significant depth to the subject. Editor: It’s the fur that gets me. The lines are almost frantic. You can practically feel the texture. It contrasts wonderfully with the smoother handling of the face. It feels less like a portrait and more like a captured moment—a contemplation caught on the fly. Curator: His averted gaze and subtly furrowed brow certainly contribute to that feeling of captured introspection. Note, also, the economy of line in depicting the face versus the almost baroque excess in rendering the fur. The contrast between the relative restraint in the depiction of the skin and the extravagance in the description of the garment might be considered a commentary on the themes of identity versus artifice, exterior appearance versus inner contemplation. Editor: Or maybe, he just really liked drawing fur! Jokes aside, I agree with your take. I think what is interesting about this piece is how such a traditional form becomes something almost brutally human in its effect. The Baroque theatricality almost hides this honest glimpse. Curator: Indeed. Lievens gives us not merely an image of a man but, it seems, access to a fleeting moment of private thought. It provides an arresting formal and psychological composition that, despite its age, still captivates. Editor: Absolutely. I find that captivating honesty really stays with me. The sheer humanity etched onto that small plate, quite remarkable, isn’t it?