Dimensions 35.7 x 29.8 cm
This is an undated portrait of Carl Justinian von Holzhausen by an anonymous artist, housed at the Städel Museum. The composition is neatly organized within an oval frame, drawing the eye immediately to the figure's face. Note how the artist uses color to structure our gaze. The muted greens and golds provide a backdrop that highlights the soft pastels of the face. The sitter's direct gaze establishes an immediate connection, inviting viewers into the space of the painting. Consider the textural contrast between the smooth skin and the lace, which adds a layer of intricate detail, disrupting the uniformity of the surface. This juxtaposition between the idealized smoothness and the intricate details destabilizes conventional portraiture, suggesting an interest in materiality. This portrait engages with the era's shifting perspectives on identity and representation. The way the formal elements function challenges traditional portraiture's singular meaning. It transforms it into a site of ongoing interpretation, reflective of broader cultural and philosophical discourses.
Comments
In the days before it was possible to reproduce family portraits by photographic means, painted and printed copies provided completeness and substitutes in the portrait galleries of wealthy aristocratic and upper-class families. This copy of Hofnaas’s Portrait of Carl Justinian von Holzhausen (1750–1793) will also have served that function. For generations, the von Holzhausens—an old-established line of Frankfurt patricians—had themselves immortalized in portraits to preserve the memory of their family members. Here the copyist departed from the original by dressing his subject in a double-breasted green coat and omitting the black hat under his arm. He replicated the details of the furnishings precisely, however, and scaled them down to fit into the oval format.
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