Portret van rechtsgeleerde Josephus Averanius 1681 - 1746

This is an undated portrait of Josephus Averanius, the celebrated Florentine jurist, made with etching and engraving by François van Bleyswijck. Averanius, shown holding a book in this print, taught at the University of Pisa, an institution with a history stretching back to the 14th century, but revived and expanded under the Medici dukes in the 16th. The Medici sought to project an image of themselves as enlightened patrons of the arts and sciences, and the university was one of the key vehicles for this. Averanius, as a professor there, was thus part of a larger political project. Legal scholarship had implications for the existing social order. The trappings of learning and erudition here are meant to reinforce Averanius's authority. To understand this image better, we might research the history of the University of Pisa, the Medici family, and the place of legal scholarship in 18th century Europe. The meaning of art is always contingent on these social and institutional contexts.