Portret van Johann Kaspar Lavater 1766 - 1833

Editor: We are looking at the “Portret van Johann Kaspar Lavater” from sometime between 1766 and 1833 by Jan (I) Kobell. It’s an engraving, which gives it this really precise, almost clinical feel. Lavater looks like he is really engrossed in his book. It almost feels like a snapshot - and at the same time a carefully constructed presentation. What stands out to you? Curator: What captures my attention is the portrait within the portrait, hovering above the desk like a muse of contemplation, directing the man's gaze upwards and onwards. What could he be possibly reading? His world is an interesting confluence of spirituality and the burgeoning science of the time, phrenology, all subtly revealed. Notice, too, how the artist has used the linearity of the engraving to create an intimate atmosphere, trapping Lavater in time, frozen by observation. Editor: That idea of him being trapped is interesting. Do you think there is a contrast between the two figures looking upward, and Lavater as the one confined by the image, and reading? Curator: Absolutely! Lavater seems weighed down by earthly matters and by our intense scrutiny, pinned beneath the weight of a library and our expectations. His work involved interpreting human character through facial features. Kobell, however, leaves us to interpret Lavater through pose and through context - do we find that reliable, I wonder? It is playful subversion that complicates any easy conclusions we may wish to draw about either of them. Editor: That's amazing. I initially thought this was a pretty straightforward portrait, but now I am appreciating all these hidden layers of interpretation. Curator: Indeed. It’s those tensions that make the artwork sing, don’t you think?