Portret van een onbekende man, mogelijk Johan Sems 1602

Editor: So, this is Jacob Matham’s "Portret van een onbekende man, mogelijk Johan Sems" from 1602, done with etching and engraving. It gives off this kind of austere, but also weirdly intense vibe to me. That ruff collar seems almost ridiculously huge! What strikes you most when you look at it? Curator: Oh, the ruff collar is just the beginning of the visual feast! What I find fascinating is how Matham captured this man's almost defiant gaze using just lines and shading. It's a tiny window into a soul from over four centuries ago. He isn't particularly beautiful in the conventional sense, is he? Almost cartoonish, in fact. And that’s why it resonates: warts and all. It begs the question – what was life actually like? What’s your sense? Does the overall mood change when you know it was the Dutch Golden Age? Editor: Knowing the historical context does make me think about wealth, status and maybe even a sense of national pride emerging in the Netherlands at that time. So perhaps this "unknown man" represents an ideal of sorts? A kind of confident, burgeoning middle class maybe? Curator: Exactly! Or perhaps he's simply… a guy! Not everyone in the Golden Age was Rembrandt, dripping in gold chains. It's a great exercise to resist the grand narrative, and let the picture breathe. Editor: That's a perspective I hadn't considered. I was so focused on trying to decode the symbolism. I appreciate that you're bringing me back to considering the work as something to experience rather than solve. Curator: It's a dance between knowledge and feeling, isn't it? Editor: Definitely food for thought. Thanks for opening my eyes, yet again!