Portret van Pierre François Louis Rigano 1829

Christian Heinrich Gottlieb Steuerwald created this pencil drawing of Pierre François Louis Rigano. The portrait has an arresting clarity, its composition focused on Rigano's head and shoulders. Steuerwald used hatching and cross-hatching to create a range of tonal values, from the bright highlights on Rigano’s face to the deep shadows of his uniform. The precision and detail in this portrait are remarkable, a hallmark of academic art, yet it also demonstrates what structuralists might call a system of signs. Note the meticulous rendering of Rigano’s military attire, the buttons, the epaulettes, each carrying symbolic weight related to power and status. Steuerwald captured not just the likeness of Rigano, but also visually encoded his societal role, presenting the subject as a signifier of authority. Consider how Steuerwald's formal choices create an artwork of enduring fascination, more than just a record of a person’s appearance.